Business at the Mpondwe border with the Democratic Republic of Congo was paralyzed on Friday morning after rebels attacked the Congolese towns of Lubiriha and Kasindi overnight.
Hundreds of refugees are crossing into Uganda from the Democratic Republic of Congo following heavy artillery shelling from the Congolese side.
Friday is cross border market day which attracts thousands of Ugandans from Kasese and other parts of the country.
Enos Sabayo, a businessman in the Lubiriha market at the border, says business was halted by the customs authorities as they attend to the Congolese refugees entering Uganda.
The UPDF spokesperson of the 2nd Division Capt. Peter Mugisha said on phone that information from their Congolese counterparts indicates that the rebels who attacked the border towns of Lubiriha and Kasindi are of the Mai Mai militia that fights in eastern Congo.
Capt. Mugisha said that the Congolese army reports they have repulsed the rebels although no casualties on both sides were reported by press time.
Asked about the influx of the refugees, Capt. Mugisha said they are allowed to enter Uganda for safety since Ugandans have relatives in the Congolese territory.
The unrest in the Democratic Republic of Congo, if unchecked, likely to affect the voting in Kasese Woman Parliamentary seat by-elections to be held on Wednesday next week. The opposition Forum for Democratic Change has been alleging that the NRM officials want to use a number of Congolese to cast the votes in the government’s favour.
Eye witness calling from close to Lubiriha town in the DRC say that the rebels seem to have taken over the town.
The Mpondwe border in Kasese is known to be on the Transafrica highway road that connects business from Mombasa in at the East African Coast to Lagos in Nigeria through the DRC
