KIGALI, UGANDA: Rwandan government has announced the imminent reopening of the Gatuna border with Uganda bringing to an end a close to three-year closure amid political tension among the two neighbouring countries.
A statement released by the Kigali-based government noted that effective 31st January 2022, the Gatuna border post will be opened for the first time since 2019 when it was closed down under the guise of expanding its construction.
“Following the visit to Rwanda of Lt. Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, Senior Presidential Advisor on Special Operations and Commander of Land Forces of Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) ON January 22, 2022, the government of Rwanda has taken note that there is a process to solve issues raised by Rwanda, as well as commitments made by the government of Uganda to address remaining obstacles” reads the part of the statement.
“In this regard and in line with the communique of the 4th Quadripartite Summit held at Gatuna/Katuna February 21, 2020, the government of Rwanda wishes to inform the public that the Gatuna border post between Rwanda and Uganda will be re-opened from January 31, 2022”
Rwanda however stressed that it remains committed to ongoing efforts to resolve pending issues between the two countries and believes that this development will contribute positively to the speedy normalization of relations.
Sources in Kampala say that although Kigali has used excuses for other issues to portray as if Uganda was in need of the re-opening of the border, the real pressure has been coming from Rwandan citizens as they were in need of crossing to Uganda to look for employment and food. It is on record that many Rwandans were killed and have been shot by their own forces while crossing into Uganda for food.
“As it is the case for other land border posts in the country, health authorities of Rwanda and Uganda will work together to put in place necessary measures to facilitate movement in the context of #Covid-19. The government of Rwanda remains committed to ongoing efforts to resolve pending issues between Rwanda and Uganda and believes that today’s announcement will contribute positively to the speedy normalization of relations between the two countries.”
According to Uganda’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Adonia Ayebare the border reopening means a lot to the “people of both countries.”
“This means a lot to People of both countries. Well done for this important step in restoring strong bilateral ties between the two countries,” tweeted Mr Ayebare who, on January 17, 2022 delivered President Museveni’s special message to Kagame ahead of Gen Kainerugaba’s trip.
The meeting between Gen. Muhoozi and President Kagame happened less than a week after the latter tweeted two photos of Kagame, one as a young man wearing military fatigues and another one, a more recent image of him in a suit captioning them. “This is my uncle, Paul Kagame. Those who fight him fight my family. They should all be careful,” the tweet said.
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