The President of Rwanda Mr Paul Kagame has finally agreed to re-open the border with Uganda days after holding talks with the Senior Presidential Advisor for Special Operations Lt Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba.
A statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Rwanda released last night indicates that the Katuna/Gatuna border post will be reopened from January 31.
“Following the visit to Rwanda of Lt Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, Senior Presidential Advistor on Special Operations and Commander of Land Forces of the Uganda People’s Defence forces (UPDF) on January 22 2022, the Government of Rwanda has taken note that there is a process to solves issues raised by Rwanda, as well as commitments made by the Government of Uganda to address remaining obstacles,” the government of Rwanda said.
“In this regard and inline with the communique of the 4th Quadripartite Summit held at Gatuna/Katuna on February 21 2020, the government of Rwanda wishes to inform the public that the Gatuna border post between Rwanda and Uganda will re re-opened from 31 January 2022.”
After his visit last week, Gen Kainerugaba tweeted saying he held very cordial and in-depth discussions about how to improve “our bilateral relations. I’m confident that under the leadership of our two Presidents we shall be able to quickly restore our historical good relations.”
The news of the reopening has been welcomed by the citizens of both countries, with many expressing their happiness on social media.
Amb Adonia Ayebare posted on his twitter account, saying the reopening of the border means a lot to the people of Uganda and Rwanda.
“This means a lot to People of both countries. Well done for this important step in restoring strong bilateral ties between the two countries.”
Lawyer Hussein Kashilingi tweeted: Thank you President @KagutaMuseveni President @PaulKagame and all other compatriots that have engaged in this process to normalize our relations. We are strong together. Now I can get market for my milk and bananas as before. @mkainerugaba, as I always say, keep walking!”
Veteran journalist Andrew Mwenda tweeted: “Thank you @mkainerugaba and @PaulKagame for your efforts to bring sanity to this relationship.”