Born in Rubavu district, Western Province, Diane Ngoga Nzamukosha went to Uganda in 2014 in search of a better life.

Not long after arriving in the neighboring country, she started a retail business, where she would buy clothes and resell them in South Sudan.

Nzamukosha narrates that last year on July 30 while she was at home with her 13 year-old son at around 8pm, a group of armed people invaded her house clad in civilian clothes, saying that they were Ugandan security personnel. 

"When my son saw them, he ran away in fear because they were armed,” the 36 year-old narrated.

According to Nzamukosha, the security forces told her that they were informed that she possessed arms in her house.

"They accused me of being a spy sent by the Rwandan government to kill individuals who deserted the country to Uganda,” she said. However, she added, when they searched the house, they found no arms.

That same night, Nzamukosha was taken to an Internal Security Organization (ISO) detention facility for a few days and later to Kireka police station before being transferred to the notorious Mbuya military barracks in the capital Kampala.

Mbuya also serves as the headquarters of Uganda’s Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI) that has been severally cited in hallowing tales of torture meted out on Rwandans arrested on similar accusations.

She added: "In the six months I spent there, we would eat thrice a week and be beaten daily and interrogated with our eyes covered. I started developing headache, dizziness, nose bleeding, and up to now, I cannot stand on my feet because of the torture by CMI agents.”

Nzamukosha said that interrogations in Mbuya were always conducted by a one CK, although she was never able to see his face because of the blindfolds and hoodies covering her face by then.

Brig. CK Asiimwe is the deputy director of CMI who is also one of those responsible for the frosty relations between Rwanda and Uganda.

Due to ill health, Nzamukosha went into a critical state, and the agents feared she would die at their hands after they had killed one of her compatriots (a lady) before her eyes, hence her release.

She said that there are hundreds of Rwandans, including 64-year-old Uwamahoro Immaculate together with her husband Pastor Cyril who hail from Rubavu, who are still held in Uganda’s barracks on same accusations of being spies sent by Rwanda to get rid of individuals who fled the country to Uganda.

Because of the critical state she was in, she was taken to Kanombe Military Hospital where she is still being taken care of.

Though Nzamukosha hails the government for the treatment that is helping her to recover from the gruesome torture by Ugandan intelligence agents, she said that she doesn’t know the whereabouts of her child, hence requesting the government to help her reunite with him.

In addition to this, the 36 year-old said that she is still uncertain of whether she will still be able to make a living once discharged.

"I went in Uganda while I was energetic, but it is no longer the case, I don’t know whether I will be able to work again and make a living,” she said, adding that she was deported living everything behind, including 8 million shillings, Rwf710, 000, 3,000 USD that was in her house.

A shared nightmare

Nzamukosha is among seven Rwandans, including a one-year-old baby, who were on Wednesday, February 3, deported from Uganda through the Kagitumba One-Stop Border Post, Nyagatare District.

It is not the first time Rwandans are deported or illegally dumped at the border by Uganda, many of them narrating tales of torture. In June last year, 79 Rwandans were handed over to Rwanda.

Illegal detentions of Rwandan nationals in Uganda is one of the issues at the heart of strained relations between the two neighbors; others being Kampala’s alleged support to anti-Kigali militia groups and economic sabotage.

The two governments have since held a series of high-profile meetings, including at the Heads of State level, under the facilitation of Angola and DR Congo, in bid to find a lasting solution.

The last meeting of the four Heads of State took place in February 2020 at the Gatuna border post.