President Yoweri Museveni has called on Ugandans living in Rwanda to abstain from premarital sex as a way of protecting themselves from contracting the HIV/Aids virus.

He was speaking yesterday during his address to members of the Ugandan community living in Rwanda.

"I would encourage you to abstain rather than thinking that you would survive on ARVs. These drugs make you live longer but you are no longer a complete person. This is something I have witnessed within the army,” said President Museveni.

"Out of 100 children born to infected mothers, there is a 10 percent risk of transmitting the virus to babies born to mothers who are on ARVs. This means that there is still a risk even when ARVs are available,” said Museveni.

 Meanwhile, the chairperson of the Ugandan Community in Rwanda, Hadji Issa Bogele, requested President Museveni to inform President Kagame that the Ugandan community in Rwanda would wish to meet him.

"We know where Rwanda was 17 years ago; we saw the country rebuilding and we have witnessed the growth and prosperity of this country, we want to meet with President Kagame and congratulate him as well as pledge our support to him,” said Bogele.

In his previous visit, President Museveni offered US$50, 000 to the Ugandan community in Rwanda. The money was used to set up an auto-mechanic training garage and a residential house for rent.

Among the concerns raised by the Ugandans was the need to set up mechanisms that allow voting from Ugandan foreign missions without crossing the border.

President Museveni assured them that after the issuance of digital identification cards, all Ugandans would vote from wherever they are.Museveni completed a four-day state visit to Rwanda yesterday.

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