With our special correspondent in Mpondwe, Patient Ligodi

The ceremony took place in Mpondwe, at the border, on the Ugandan side. Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni has been in place since Wednesday, June 16 in late morning. Félix Tshisekedi arrived later by helicopter. He exchanged with his Ugandan counterpart under a tent for approximately one hour.

The second part of the ceremony will take place in Kasindi for the laying of the cornerstone in Mpondwe, one of the three most active border posts between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Moreover, in terms of trade volume, Mpondwe is separated from Kasindi in the DRC by the Lubiriha River.

Commercial exchanges

Most importantly, Uganda is keen on this road renovation project which will allow its commercial products to reach major Congolese cities, such as Beni, Goma, or Butembo.

Uganda exports notably construction materials and manufactured products to eastern DRC. For its part, the DRC exports agricultural products including tea, coffee, cocoa. There are also woods, but often in an informal circuit. This project was initiated in 2019. It gained momentum in May 2021 with the signing of political and technical agreements between the two countries.

The other interest of this road renovation is of a security nature, particularly on the Kasindi-Beni axis where ambushes are laid by ADF (Allied Democratic Forces) fighters against vehicles and motorbikes belonging to merchants.

After their one-on-one meeting, the two presidents then broadened the discussion to include the chiefs of general staff of the armies of both countries to review military cooperation, particularly in the fight against the ADF, an armed movement originating in Uganda that operates in the territory of Beni and in part of Ituri province.

Military cooperation continues

For this mission, virtually all heads of Congolese security services made the trip to Mpondwe, among them the minister of defense, the chief of general staff of the Congolese army, the military governor of North Kivu, the head of the National Intelligence Agency, and the special security adviser to Félix Tshisekedi.

Before this meeting, several meetings between delegates from the two armies had been held in Beni, in Kasindi, or on Ugandan territory.

Officially, joint military operations are not yet envisaged. Intelligence exchanges continue. Military cooperation between the two countries has made it possible in recent months to arrest dozens of ADF fighter collaborators in Uganda and the DRC. Some of them have been transferred to Kinshasa.