Uganda has reopened two land borders with eastern Democratic Republic of Congo after more than five months of closure, the army said on Friday.
Chief of Defence Forces aide Chris Magezi said the Bunagana and Ishasha posts—both inside territory held by M23 rebels—were reopened on Thursday on the direct orders of President Yoweri Museveni.
“It was a criminal and counter-productive move to block meaningful trade between neighbouring communities whose survival depends on it,” Magezi wrote on X, adding that officials who had enforced the shutdown “are being investigated.”
Uganda sealed the crossings in late January after M23 fighters seized Goma, capital of Congo’s North Kivu province. The Rwanda-backed group, which relaunched its offensive in November 2021, now controls swathes of North Kivu, including the commercial hubs of Goma and Bukavu.
The rebels captured Bunagana in June 2022, cutting a vital conduit for Ugandan exports. Local official Désiré Kanyamarere said the closure had left communities on both sides “jobless and impoverished.”
North Kivu is a key market for Ugandan food, fuel and consumer goods; Kampala hopes reopening the posts will revive cross-border trade even as fighting continues further south.