A total of 90 Ugandans who had registered at the High Commission of Uganda in Kigali to be returned home did not show up today.
Ann Katusiime, the deputy head of missions at the Ugandan High Commission in Rwanda, says over 350 people had registered for repatriation, but that fewer people showed up on Wednesday.
“The first batch had 100 Ugandans repatriated, 94 more people followed and Wednesday saw 66 people repatriated. We had booked for more people to travel but when the time came, only these turned up. When contacted, some told us that they were not ready to return home while others still found comfort in staying in Rwanda” Said Kamusiime.
She said the repatriation exercise was made possible mostly by the Ugandans in Rwanda through their association.
“We were chanced to have a united effort as Ugandans in supporting our own who had lost jobs due to the lockdown. Some who were teachers, bar operators and others who had small jobs here were rendered jobless when COVID-19 set in. As the commission, we rolled out a registration exercise and we were able to support each other until this time when we had them repatriated,” said Katusiime.
Wallace Bindeeba, a senior Immigration officer at Katuna border who received the returnees said the exercise had been done successfully and the remaining exercise was for health officials to deal with the returnees.
“The repatriation exercise was successful and we expect the health Ministry to deal with the returnees while they get to settle in the country. This group will go to Entebbe for quarantine and they will later settle in their respective homes,” he said.