Plight of Abavandimwe tops Nabbanja’s priorities for 2025

Maria Sekaziga is a proud old girl of Gayaza High School and Makerere University. Throughout her life, the 54-year-old has worked in different civil service roles but as she contemplates retirement, she is deeply bothered that her efforts and contribution to the country’s development have not been appreciated.

A few months ago, she went to renew her passport at the Directorate of Citizenship and Immigration Control (DCIC) and she was shocked to have her documents rejected.

“I was told to prove my Ugandan citizenship by providing certified documents about my parents and grandparents. I thought it was a joke but the officials rejected my application and up to this day I have no valid passport,” she says.

Sekaziga’s ‘crime’ is being a daughter of Banyarwanda parents who emigrated to Uganda in the 1950s and since then took on Uganda citizenship. According to her testimony, DCIC officials declined her application on grounds that she could not prove her Ugandan lineage.

“My lack of identification and passport has significantly affected my livelihood and I find it very difficult to do bank and mobile money transactions,” she says.

Sekaziga’s plight is just one of the hundreds that Banyarwanda descendants, popularly known as Abavandimwe, face daily at DCIC as well as at the National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA).

“It is outright discrimination that humiliates and embarrasses us as second-class citizens,” says Frank Gashumba, the interim head of the Council of Bavandimwe in Uganda.

The plight of Abavandimwe discrimination has been greatly discussed in various national platforms, especially parliament. In April this year, the Abavandimwe council petitioned parliament decrying discrimination and violation of their citizenship rights. They even met President Museveni on October 23 and he promised to address their concerns.

On October 28, 2024, the president guided cabinet to make sure this is solved. Nonetheless, little was done and the issue reached a head on November 28 when Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja assured Ugandans to give government two months to address the plight of Abavandimwe.

This followed the findings of the Committee on Defence and Veteran Affairs that had punched holes in the Abavandimwe plight. The committee’s report, which has since been binned, claimed that a total of 4,554 Abavandimwe applicants were red-flagged for having fraudulently acquired IDs.

Gashumba argued that the report disregarded the testimonies of the victims such as Sekaziga and failed to suggest any meaningful actions to rectify the situation as it cleared DCIC and NIRA of any wrongdoing, further serving to cover up the abuses that the Banyarwanda community continue to endure.

On her part, Nabbanja assured all stakeholders that government will come up with a policy that will protect the Abavandimwe from discrimination within two months. It remains to be seen whether Nabbanja’s assertion will bear fruit but it goes without saying that the Abavandimwe badly need government’s intervention to help them enjoy the benefits of Ugandan citizenship like other tribes.

WHO ARE THE ABAVANDIMWE?

Abavandimwe refers to people with distant roots in neighbouring Rwanda and are recognized as citizens of Uganda by the 1995 Constitution. Regardless the decades they have lived here, Abavandimwe have never been fully embraced and many Ugandans don’t understand the difference between them and the nationals of Rwanda.

In many areas, a Munyarwanda attracts stigma, which has led to many Abavandimwe adopting Kiganda and other Bantu names and cultures, just to live in peace. But something has happened lately, causing the Banyarwanda community to stand tall and proud and embrace their tribe and heritage.

The Council of Banyarwanda, an independent, not-for-profit organization with a mission of protecting the rights of Banyarwanda born and raised in Uganda, has proposed that the Banyarwanda tribe in Uganda change their name to Abavandimwe.

It cites, among other reasons, segregation by Ugandan authorities that do not differentiate between Banyarwanda and Rwandan nationals. Banyarwanda have been part of Uganda since 1900 when their ancestors first migrated. Banyarwanda in Uganda are in three categories; Banyarwanda of Kisoro, commonly known as Bafumbira. Kisoro was once part of Rwanda and was only separated by the British in 1884.

Then there was the group of economic migrants that left Rwanda in 1922 for Uganda to work, and lastly another group that came in 1959.

Those Banyarwanda fled political wars between the Hutu and Tutsi. Among them is current Rwanda president Paul Kagame, former NRA/ RPF strongman, Fred Rwigema and others. That group and their descendants went back between 1990 and 1994 and were part of the liberation struggle.

GENESIS OF ABAVANDIMWE

Abavandimwe, born from Ubuvandimwe or ubuntu – a bond among brethren – started as a movement in May 2021 and, reportedly, majority of Banyarwanda born in Uganda are happy to be called Abavandimwe. Gashumba says there are more than 11 million Banyarwanda living in Uganda and seven million have so far subscribed and proudly call themselves Bavandimwe.

“The fraction that is disturbing us is of the senior citizens, who are old. But with time, they will appreciate it,” Gashumba says.

“We have 107 members of parliament as we speak and they are very ready to embrace it. Those who have been hiding have started revealing themselves, for example, Joseph Ssewungu, Sylvia Nayebare from Gomba, Diana Mutasingwa are all Banyarwanda, and the number is big. There are those who don’t want to reveal, but we know them,” Gashumba says.

“We started in 2017 out of pain, hate and frustrations, which our people go through every day. The council for Abavandimwe has 21 people on official leadership, but we have regional leaders in Buganda, which we have concentrated on first.”

WHY REBRAND

Speaking to The Observer, Gashumba says despite being recognized as Ugandans, members of his tribe are being denied access to national identity cards and passports, which are some of the most important documents every Ugandan should and must have.

“Our tribe is being systemically locked out of the economy and public service of this country. Some of us cannot get phone sim cards, open bank accounts, acquire loans or even exercise our patriotic duty to join the police or armed forces. Our research shows that 80 per cent of our young people who have at one point applied for passports to be able to travel and seek jobs abroad, go for treatment or for business, have been denied access, despite being citizens of Uganda,” Gashumba says.

And lately, with the tensions between Uganda and Rwanda, the Banyarwanda in Uganda are taking an undeserved beating, simply because of their DNA. Governments on both sides of Gatuna/Katuna border treat Ugandan Banyarwanda with suspicion, as each thinks their (Banyarwanda) loyalty lies with the other. Like a heavy york, the title Banyarwanda is one Gashumba and his tribesmen and women seek to discard and embrace being Bavandimwe.

“Much as we are in the constitution of Uganda as Banyarwanda, 93 per cent of Ugandans – according to the study we have done – don’t believe we are Ugandans.