The ministry of agriculture website has been pulled down after hackers infiltrated it and posted messages calling for presidents Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and Paul Kagame of Rwanda to stop supporting war in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The hackers, one of whom identifying himself as Jeannot Kabuya, posted a string of statements written in French and calling for an end to the violence in DR Congo.
Some of the messages posted on the site, www.agriculture.go.ug, say Congo is not for sale.
The hackers also posted a string of pictures labeling the two presidents as well as Congolese rebel leader Bosco Ntaganda as killers who are wanted for war crimes. Ntaganda has been heading the M23 rebels who in April this year launched a rebellion against the Joseph Kabila government.
Other messages posted on the site says the hackers are anonymous, they do not forgive and they do not forget.
Connie Achayo, the agriculture ministry spokesperson says that they have decided to pull down the website as they investigate the origin of the messages and possible motive of the hackers.
Fred Opolot the director at the Uganda Media Centre says he is aware of the move by hackers but is getting in touch with the public relations officer at the ministry of agriculture to pull down the site.
Earlier, Information minister Mary Karooro Okurut said she was not aware of the development but was getting in touch with the ministry officials to furnish her with details.
President Kagame of Rwanda and Kabila of DR Congo are expected to meet Museveni in Kampala on Tuesday this week to try and ease tension in the region. Congo accuses Rwanda of supporting the M23 rebels, a claim Rwanda dismisses.
On February 29th this year, the website of the Ministry of Works was briefly pulled down after a hacker posted a picture of FDC leader Kizza Besigye seated on a stool in a pensive mood. The image stayed on the site for several hours until the website was pulled down at about 5pm.
In May 2010, a hacker going by name Kaka Argentine posted a photo of Adolf Hitler with a Nazi party symbol on his chest on the State House website. In 2010, hackers calling themselves “the Ayyildiz team” posted pro-Palestine items on the website of the Ministry of Defence, accusing Israel of killing innocent Palestinians.
