Rwanda announces full opening of Gatuna border

Kigali government is set to reopen its land border with Uganda later Monday.

Gatuna (Katuna) border in Gicumbi district between Rwanda and Uganda will be opened effective Monday, March 7, as the government of Rwanda will reopen all its land borders.

The border post has been dormant for almost three years with Kigali reporting strained relations with Uganda.

It is not yet clear whether Kigali gates will be opened at the start of business today. Rwanda and Uganda are in a different time zone, with Kampala ahead by one hour.

Local media in Rwanda report that Rwanda is also set to reopen the common frontiers with Tanzania and Burundi.

It is reported that the decision to normalize movement was reached during the cabinet meeting that convened on Friday, March 4 with an agenda of assessing the existing Covid-19 measures, among other issues.

“Land borders shall reopen starting Monday, March 7, but people must be subject to random Covid-19 testing by the Ministry of Health upon entry,” read the meeting communique issued by the Prime Minister’s Office in Kigali.

The fresh announcement on Gatuna follows the January diplomatic talks between Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame and Lt Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the Commander of the Land Forces of Ugandan People Defence Forces (UPDF).

Although details of the Kigali meeting were not immediately made public, both parties confirmed the discussions focused on the steps towards restoring the bilateral ties.

Shortly after the Kagame -Kainerugaba meeting at Village Urugwiro, the official residence of President Kagame, Kigali announced that the Gatuna Post between Rwanda and Uganda will be re-opened from January 31, 2022.

“The Government of Rwanda remains committed to ongoing efforts to resolve pending issues between Rwanda and Uganda and believes that today's (Thursdays) announcement will contribute to the speedy normalization of relations between the two countries. As is in the case for other land border posts in the country, the health authorities of Rwanda and Uganda will work together to put in place necessary measures to facilitate movement in the context of Covid-19,” said Rwanda.

At the time of filing this article, almost six weeks after, operations are yet to normalize although immigration officials from both countries in February inspected the facilities at the common border.

Whereas there has been no immediate reaction from Government, on Sunday Lt. Gen Kainerugaba who is also Senior Presidential Advisor in charge of Special Operations used his Twitter handle to announce the resumption of operations at Katuna.

Kainerugaba, son of President Yoweri Museveni, in a post on Twitter, stated: “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. I think we need a prize.”