The Territory of Rutshuru in the east of the DRC bordering Uganda and Rwanda, has not only experienced the problem of insecurity since the advent of the M23 rebellion, but also the poverty of the population has increased. , to the point where the latter, who lives mainly on the border with Uganda, finds herself obliged to flee the area in order to find refuge elsewhere. Violations for decades The groups of Busanza, Binza and part of Jomba in the chiefdom of Bwisha in Rutshuru, are three direct neighbors of Uganda. Known as an agricultural region, the group of Busanza is currently emptied of its population following the insecurity, the beginning of which was marked by the massacre of Rugarama/Mugogo on November 18, 1996, where between 3000 and 3285 people were brutally killed during the AFDL. These people had been killed according to certain theories, on the grounds that the foreign elements who were part of this rebellion were avenging the death of one of theirs, who responded to the name of NSUMBABURANGA, then manager of a plantation in this region. Wars followed one another, from that time, until the rebirth of the M23 towards the end of 2021. Since the horrors and killings, this group had experienced an absence of authority, thus giving rise to a jungle and this, in a continental country like the Democratic Republic of Congo. A few days ago, the problems of demarcating the borders between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda resurfaced and several politicians, each as far as they are concerned, showed themselves to be concerned to the point of taking this concern head on. The Minister of Foreign Affairs Christophe LUTUNDULA was even called to the National Assembly to provide clarification on this issue.
A year before the rebirth of the M23 bis rebellion, during the lifetime of Mwami Bahizi of Busanza (deceased), Uganda had extended its limits by entering the DRC over a distance of 64m , near the Catholic priests' hotel at the Kitagoma border post on the one hand and on the other hand, the DRC had pushed its border up to 14m towards the office of the General Directorate of Migration at the Kitagoma border post. The population, through the president of civil society of Kitagoma Mr. TWISENGE, will raise alerts, until the Ugandan Ministers of Foreign Affairs and that of the Interior will come with their GPS to correct the place where the DRC had already rushed into Uganda. When the Congolese border population asked these Ugandan officials to correct where Uganda had violated Congolese space, this delegation replied that it was not their task to do so, but rather to Congolese ministers. Until now, Uganda is keeping 64m of Congolese land at Kitagoma, local sources say. Barter of fields and plots between Congolese and Ugandans Since the insecurity, there has been a continual movement of populations from the Busanza group towards Uganda. For a Congolese who wishes to buy a plot in Uganda,(On this issue of Congolese buying Ugandan,the DRC Gorvenment should notice that the regular insecurity in Rutshuru has forced many Congolese national to buy plots of land all over south western Uganda,as I write this there are a lot of Congolese who have built houses in the villages of Bunagana town council, nyarubuye sub county, Rukundo town council,kisoro municipality,nyarusiza and Muramba sub county and some are ready to apply for Uganda citizenship) in the negotiations between buyer and seller , Ugandans who want to have land to cultivate demand fields in exchange for their plots. This policy allowed many Ugandans to have land in the DRC. Today, there are more than 14 hectares of Congolese fields which already belong to Ugandans in the villages of Nyamagana, Mungo, Musezero, Rubara in the sub-villages of Busaki, Kihondo and Bushiha, they (Uganda) had received them from Congolese citizens refugees themselves, without the customary and administrative authorities of the Busanza group being officially notified. The violation of the Congolese border by neighboring Uganda by the movement of the Kibaya boundary markers which is a vast area of which a large part is Congolese and a small part is Ugandan. The populations of the locality of Mungo regularly exceed the Congolese limits by going to cut firewood and eucalyptus even in the space that the Ugandans have deemed to belong to them for several years. Since the rebirth of the M23 rebellion, Uganda will say that the DRC has already exceeded its limits to the point of entering Ugandan space in the locality of Mungo, a part of the DRC at the level of Kibaya, a part which touches towards Ngororero, advances and touches Bunagana, in the jomba group. “The Ugandans came, visibly showing the desire to correct the border until entering Kibaya, part of the DRC around 74m. It should be noted that until now, Uganda has not yet set the limits,” explain local sources .According to several observers, the Ugandans are psychologically preparing the Congolese for the correction which aims to bring the 74m back to their territory. 3km from the current border Regarding the 3 kilometers which have been the subject of debate for several days, our sources estimate that if Uganda wants to make a straight line to straighten this limit from Kibaya, it could go up to around 500m from the Rubavu health center. the locality of Mungo in the Busanza group, and from there,Uganda will have already exceeded between 2 to 3 kilometers. Kibaya is shared between Uganda and the DRC. The DRC owns a large part, estimated at more than 14 hectares. The Government of Kinshasa which, a year before the start of the M23 war, had been active in recovering 64m of overflow from Uganda to Congo, will be able to does it solve the Mungo problem at a time when these areas are inaccessible to the armed forces of the DRC? Why did Uganda want to correct its borders now that the M23 reigns supreme in the area? These are questions that the populations and several Congolese analysts are asking themselves regarding this issue which affects the integrity of the national territory. A few months before the elections, this question risks affecting the national debate across the entire national territory.
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