Security authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are reportedly constructing border post barriers on Ugandan territory. The construction is taking place at Adi and Lobeya in Okoro County in Nebbi.
The Nebbi LC5 chairperson, John Pascal Wapokra, says the barriers are more than 100 meters inside Uganda in a designated buffer zone. He says residents of Adi and Lobeya are afraid that their future in Uganda is not guaranteed because of the activities of the Congolese authorities.
The construction of the border barriers was done two weeks after Congolese authorities were blocked from building a police post at Agyero, which is also in Nebbi. The building of the police post was halted when Ugandan authorities protested to the DRC government.
Peiri Bakoyi, the District Commissioner for Ituri in the DRC, says his government was forced to build the borders to stop any foreign aggression. He claims to have intelligence information that some Congolese rebels are being trained in Uganda and says they should be prevented from re-entering the country.
Bakoyi says he received information that some of the rebels were being trained at Paidha Primary School in Uganda. However Lieutenant Colonel David Kabangira, the UPDF 409th Brigade Commander, says those claims are untrue. He says the 409th Brigade was merely conducting cadre training at the school/
Kabangira appeals to the Congolese authorities not to rely on rumors, but to ask for information in order to establish the facts of what is going on in Uganda.
Last year Uganda and the DRC were involved in a similar border dispute when the Congolese authorities started building a barrier just 100 meters away from a customs point in Vurra in Arua district. The work was stopped after a meeting between Presidents Yoweri Museveni and Joseph Kabila. The presidents agreed to carry out a joint border demarcation exercise that is yet to take place.
