Since Wednesday, September 4, the DRC-Uganda joint technical commission has been discussing a road map and the budget for implementing the project to demarcate the common border between the DRC and Uganda, in North Kivu. These discussions which are being held in Goma aim to resolve the boundary conflicts which have opposed the two neighboring countries for a long time.
71 km long, the border boundary zone concerned by this project runs from Mount Sabinyo to Bwindi, on the boundary between Bwindi National Park (Uganda) and the Sarambwe Nature Reserve (DRC), passing through the DRC-Uganda-Rwanda tripoint. These regions are located in eastern Rutshuru territory and southwestern Uganda.
To date, only 16 markers mark the limits between the two countries, leaving room for the persistence of border conflicts. Hence the need to define concrete actions, according to Vangu Mabyala, expert from the Congolese Ministry of the Interior.
“The purpose of this meeting is to develop the budget for the border demarcation work to reveal, on the ground, the demarcation line,” he said.
Colonel Naboth Mwesigwa, head of the delegation of Ugandan experts, who does not recognize the multiple boundary conflicts between the two countries, affirms that this demarcation operation is rather preventive:
“There is no conflict and we have never been at war with the DRC but we are here to reassure ourselves that if there are some cross-border disagreements, that this is addressed for the benefit of both countries” .
More than 765 km of borders separate Uganda and the DRC, from Ituri to the east of the Rutshuru territory in North Kivu. Most of the border line affected by the current demarcation project is located in the east of the area currently occupied by the M23 rebellion supported by Rwanda.
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