Uganda reopens border posts with eastern DRC

KAMPALA, UGANDA | Xinhua & URN |  Uganda has reopened border posts with the Democratic Republic of Congo in areas under the control of the March 23 Movement (M23) rebels.

Felix Kulayigye, Uganda’s military spokesperson, told Xinhua by telephone that President Yoweri Museveni on Wednesday ordered the reopening of the Bunagana, Ishasha, Busanza, and other border posts.

According to security authorities, the border posts were closed in late January after M23 rebels captured Goma, the capital of the DRC’s North Kivu Province.

“It’s true the president last night ordered the reopening of the border posts, and indeed this morning the Bunagana border post was reopened,” said Kulayigye.

Ugandan Chief of Defense Forces Muhoozi Kainerugaba, on Wednesday evening, instructed all military commanders along the shared border to allow people to move freely and conduct business.

The DRC government declared all border areas under M23 rebels’ control illegal after the fall of Bunagana in Rutshuru territory, North Kivu province, that borders Kisoro district in June 2022.  In October 2022, rebels advanced and captured another section of the Busanza-Kitagoma border. In August 2024, M23 rebels again advanced and captured Ishasha, which borders Kanungu district.

The government also suspended transport and business from Bunagana to Goma city. This led Ugandan authorities to shift immigration and customs services from the Bunagana border to the Uganda-Rwanda border of Chanika.

On Thursday, authorities led by Hajji Badru Ssebala, Kisoro Resident District Commissioner and Abel Bizimana, Kisoro District LC5 Chairman converged at the Ugandan side of the border of Bunagana and opened the border.

Desire Kanyamarere, Mayor for the DR Congo side of Bunagana, also attended the re-opening.

Ssebyala says he has reopened the border following orders from higher authorities for formal transport and trade between the two countries.

Bizimana says that he is excited for the border reopening because locals in Kisoro will now freely start making exchange visits to their friends and relatives in DR Congo.

Desire Kanyamarere, Mayor for the DR Congo side of Bunagana, hailed President Yoweri Museveni for re-opening the border, saying that its closure had suffocated locals’ income.

Bertrand Bisimwa, the M23 President, released a statement thanking Museveni for reopening the border. Bisimwa described the decision as a mark of responsible leadership that places the people at the centre of all political action.

“Let us thank His Excellency Yoweri Museveni, President of the Republic of Uganda, for his decision to reopen all border posts with Eastern Congo. This is a mark of responsible leadership that places the people at the centre of all political action”, says Bisimwa in a statement.

Col.Chris Magezi, UPDF Deputy Spokesperson, released a statement in the wee hours of Thursday morning that Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, Chief of Defence Forces, ordered that all border posts that are situated next to M23 positions must be immediately reopened. He specified border posts as Bunagana and Ishasha. Muhoozi says nothing should stop people from trading.

M23 rebels control the majority of areas in North and South Kivu provinces, including Goma, Bukavu cities, Goma international airport and Kavumu airport.

Since the resumption of the M23 insurgency in 2022, led by Bertrand Bisimwa and Emmanuel Sultan Makenga, the DRC government has repeatedly accused Rwanda of supporting M23, a claim that both Rwanda and M23 deny.  The rebels assert that their fight is against corruption, xenophobia and discrimination within the DR Congo’s leadership.