By James Tasamba
KIGALI, Rwanda (AA) - Uganda has reopened its land borders with the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, in positions controlled by the M23 rebels, authorities said Friday.
Chris Magezi, military assistant to the Chief of Defense Forces (CDF) of the Uganda People’s Defense Force (UPDF), said the border posts reopened on Thursday following a directive from President Yoweri Museveni.
“Border crossings between Uganda and DRC in M23 controlled areas of Bunagana and Ishasha reopened. This follows a Presidential directive through the CDF-UPDF to reopen the border crossings,” Magezi said in a post on X.
“It was a criminal and counterproductive move to block meaningful trade between neighbouring communities whose survival and prosperity depends on it. Those who did it are being investigated,” he said.
The border crossings were closed in late January after M23 rebels seized Goma, the capital of Congo’s North Kivu Province.
M23 rebels intensified their offensive in eastern Congo in November 2021.
The group allegedly supported by Rwanda now controls significant territory in eastern Congo, including the provincial capitals of Goma and Bukavu that it seized earlier this year.
The rebels captured the Bunagana border in June 2022. Desire Kanyamarere, a Congolese local official, told reporters on Thursday that the border closure had rendered residents on either side jobless resulting in poverty.
Congo’s southern Northern Kivu province serves as a key market for Ugandan goods.