Kenyan-Ugandan border conflict

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Kenyan-Ugandan border conflict
Kenya Uganda Locator.png
DateOctober 1987 – August 1990
Location
Kenyan-Ugandan border
Result

Return to the status quo ante bellum

Belligerents
Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya
Flag of Uganda.svg NOM
Flag of Uganda.svg  Uganda
Flag of Kenya.svg Mwakenya Movement
Commanders and leaders
Flag of Kenya.svg Daniel arap Moi
Flag of Uganda.svg Dan Opito
Flag of Uganda.svg Milton Obote (alleged)
Flag of Uganda.svg Yoweri Museveni
Flag of Kenya.svg Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o

After the NRM had taken power in Uganda, relations with Kenya had worsened due to Kenyan President Moi's distrust of Museveni.[ citation needed ] He suspected that the left-leaning NRM might be supporting the Mwakenya Movement, a socialist Kenyan insurgent force. [1] It was known that the NRM allowed Mwakenya fighters to travel freely through Uganda. [2] Kenya consequently started to fund and arm UPA insurgents. [2] In October 1987, tensions escalated into a firefight between the NRA and the Kenya Army at the border town of Busia. In response, Museveni publicly accused Kenya of supporting anti-NRM rebels. He deployed troops to the border, officially to stop guerrillas from crossing into Uganda; Moi responded by stating that any attempts by the NRA to violate the Kenyan border would be met with force. The Kenya Times , regarded as being close to Moi, accused the NRM of supporting Kenyan rebels, spying, kidnappings of Kenyans, and cattle rustling. On 15 December 1987, at least 26 NRA soldiers were killed during an incursion into Kenya, causing the tensions to almost escalate into open war. Although the situation was defused as a result of talks organized by Mengistu Haile Mariam of Ethiopia and Ali Hassan Mwinyi of Tanzania, tensions continued.[ citation needed ]

The "Ninth of October Movement" (NOM), led by Dan Opito, ermerged around 1988. [3] In February 1989, NOM began launching attacks into eastern and northeastern Uganda from Kenyan soil. It clashed with the NRA at Usuku. The group was suspected of links to ex-President Milton Obote. [4] In March 1989, the Ugandan air force bombed the Kenyan town of Lokichogio. Although war was once again avoided, relations between Uganda and Kenya were not normalized until a meeting between Moi and Museveni in August 1990.[ citation needed ]

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References

  1. "How Museveni, Moi dealt with rebel links". Daily Monitor. 5 February 2020. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  2. 1 2 Golooba-Mutebi 2008, p. 20.
  3. Lewis 2017, p. 1431.
  4. "Uganda: Information on the 9th of October Movement, including its activities, ideology, and location; on whether the group was active from late 1994 to 1995 and on whether it is currently active". Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada. 1 April 1996. Retrieved 1 February 2021.

Sources