afrol News, 17 August - An agreement to resume survey on the porous borders of Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda has been reached by governments of both countries.

The re-survey will establish sovereignty of Rukwanzi, an island that lies at the southern tip of Lake Albert, marking the natural frontier between Uganda and DRC. Rukwanzi has been at the centre of dispute and even led to bilateral tensions between Kinshasa and Kampala.

“We have agreed to form a joint commission involving officials from Uganda and Congo side to re-survey our borders,” Ugandan Minister of Defence, Crispus Kiyonga, told journalists in parliament. “This was part of the agreement with DR-Congo President Joseph Kabila and we are committed to it,” he said.

Ugandan Foreign Minister, Sam Kutesa, had earlier expressed his government’s readiness to diffuse tensions with dialogue. As such, Uganda would not launch military attacks on the Congolese territory.

Kiyonga renewed the Foreign Minister’s statement. He said a meeting [aims to avoid future attacks in Lake Albert region] involving security chiefs from Uganda, Congo, Rwanda and Burundi is scheduled to take place in the first week of September.

In recent times, Lake Albert has become the scene of sporadic armed attacks. On 3 August, a Ugandan soldier and a British contractor were killed during an attack on Canadian oil barge.

Last week, unidentified gunmen from the DRC reportedly launched an attack on Butogota in the western Ugandan Kanungu district, killing three civilians.

However, four Ugandan soldiers held captive by the regular DRC soldiers were released last month.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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