Uganda and Rwanda have finally fully reopened their borders after nearly three years of shutdown.
Early this year, Uganda and Rwanda did a partial reopening of Gatuna border crossing following a meeting between President Paul Kagame and the Commander Land Force, Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba in Kigali.
Following a second meeting between the two, the agreement to fully reopen the boarders was arrived at as revealed in Gen. Muhoozi’s tweet.
“The border is fully opening tomorrow. Me and my uncle (President Kagame) achieved in 7 hours what all the diplomats on earth failed to achieve…,” Gen Muhoozi posted on his official Twitter handle today.
The reopening of the border between Rwanda and Uganda means trade and social movement within the two countries can now resume.
The border that was shut down in February 2019 nearly caused a collapse in trade between the two countries.
Uganda’s annual exports to Rwanda mainly cement and food rose gradually to more than $200 million (€178 million) in the past two decades but fell miserably after the border closure in 2019.
Museveni and Rwandan President Paul Kagame are close allies since the 1980s and 1990s during their respective struggles for power in their countries.
The two governments have said they hope the reopening of the border can contribute to the normalization of relations.
The disagreement between Uganda and Rwanda was sparked by accusations and counter-accusations on security matters.
The fully reopening of the borders will breathe a new life to the trade relations and service access especially for citizens of these Nations that live in boarder coasts and have to continuously cross over for different services ranging from health care to education.
