DR Congo, Uganda meeting over border dispute hits deadlock
L-R: Arua Resident District Commissioner Peter Debele speaks to the governor of Orientale Province, Mr Jean Bamanisa (with hat), and other delegates from Congo at the start of the meeting at the weekend.
PHOTO BY FELIX WAROM OKELLO
Arua. A meeting called to resolve the ongoing border dispute between Uganda and DR Congo ended in deadlock after the two countries failed to agree on a common position.
The impasse has led to the closure of the border point in Vurra, Arua District.
The stand-off arose two weeks ago after the Congolese extended the hitherto known borderline at Vurra customs post by a distance of about 300 metres into the Ugandan territory and erected some structures.
The Congolese officials, however, said they were opening the land for the construction of a parking yard.
The weekend meeting held at Vurra border post was attended by the Arua Resident District Commissioner (RDC), Mr Peter Debele, and the regional police commander for North Western, Mr Fredrick Segirinya, as representatives from Uganda.
The governor of Orientale Province in DR Congo, Mr Jean Bamanisa, and Congo’s Deputy Ambassador to Uganda, Mr Christian Katoto, represented the Congolese government.
“We failed to agree because we (Ugandan team) put a condition that the Congolese authorities should remove the barrier erected at Vurra. We want them to have peace with us because issues of international boundaries could easily emanate into war if not handled properly,” Mr Debele told Daily Monitor after the failed meeting.
However, Mr Bamanisa said: “We are all brothers and sisters who share the same history. We can have problems and we need to resolve them amicably.” The Congolese said they would only remove the barrier after wide consultation and that their police would continue guarding the barrier until a clear resolution. The next meeting is scheduled for tomorrow.
The Vurra County MP, Mr Sam Okuonzi, said the two governments should respect the Ngurdoto agreement that was signed between President Museveni and President Joseph Kabila.
“The agreement stipulates border demarcation by the African Union that has not yet been done. So the locals from both sides should not engage in claiming that they know the borderline until a demarcation has been done,” he said.
Under the deal, the parties agreed to halt any further construction in the disputed area until a joint technical verification is undertaken.
Chaos
On Saturday, about 500 residents from Congo lined up at the borderline chanting songs against the Ugandan officials while others pelted stones at journalists. Ugandan police fired teargas to disperse residents from Vurra Sub-county who had mobilised to attack their DRC counterparts.
