By James Okello
President Yoweri K Museveni of Uganda and Félix Tshisekedi of DRC have commissioned a trade-critical briedge in their common border in the western Uganda town of Kasese.
The ceremony took place earli today with the DRC President praising his counterpart for ensuring that the bridge was constructed.
“As brothers, instead of looking to build walls, it’s better to build bridges. This initiative is what we must continue doing. This is a great project,” reasoned.
The reference to walls seemed a veiled reference to a country in the region that closed its border with Uganda three years ago, hampering trade between the two countries.
President Museveni thanked his counterpart for the excellent relations between Uganda and DRC saying the new briedge was a turning point in both countries’ bilateral cooperation.
Representing the Uganda National Roads Authourity Executive Directors, the Director Network Planning, Eng. Isaac Wani remarked that excellence in execution was an ideal that the roads agency trived to achieve and that the new Mpondwe bridge was excellently constructed and is robust enough to handle all the current and anticipated vehicular traffic from Uganda to DRC and vice versa.
“Uganda needs to grow its efforts to deepen regional integration as a means of facilitating greater trade opportunities, one key enabler of this is great roads and bridges. We are committed to facilitating bilateral trade between Uganda and DRC,” he concuded.
The New Mpondwe bridge
Mpondwe Bridge is located on Kampala-Mubende-Fort Portal-Uganda/DRC Border Road, at Mpondwe Trading Centre. It runs over River Lhubiriha at the Uganda – Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) border. The bridge was constructed under the supervision of the Director Roads and Bridges, Eng David Muhoozi, at the Uganda National Roads Authority.
The Mpondwe bridge project was constructed to replace the old Bailey Bridge with a new and permanent bridge, as the Bailey Bridge was deemed unsafe for the heavy vehicular traffic that comprises of heavy cargo trucks due to wear and tear.
The construction of the Mpondwe bridge is a deliberate initiative by UNRA in addressing constraints to productivity growth in the trade, manufacturing and agricultural sectors in Uganda and across the region.
Below is the Joint Communique signed by both presidents:
1. At the invitation of His Excellency Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, President of the Republic of Uganda, His Excellency Felix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo, President of the Democratic Republic of Congo led a delegation comprised of H.E. Alexis Gisaro Muvunyi, Senior Minister of Infrastructure and Public Works and Lt. Gen. Ndima Kongba Constant, Governor of North Kivu Province as well as other Senior Government Officials to the Ground-Breaking Ceremony of the road infrastructure at Mpondwe in Kasese District in the Republic of Uganda and Kasindi in North Kivu Province in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
2. The two Heads of State exchanged views on bilateral, regional and international issues of mutual interest. They reiterated their commitment to promoting trade, investment and common infrastructure as well as deepening integration among the peoples of the African continent.
3. They stressed the importance of strengthening cooperation in different sectors including; security, infrastructure connectivity, energy, trade and investment, health, management of transboundary water resources, petroleum and minerals with the view to promoting peace, stability and prosperity of the two countries.
4. The Heads of State recalled the State Visit to Uganda by His Excellency Felix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo, President of the Democratic Republic of Congo which took place from 9-10 November 2019 and welcomed the progress made in the implementation of the decisions agreed upon during the Visit.
5. The two Heads of State applauded the signing of the Inter- Governmental Agreement (IGA) and the Project Development Agreement (PDA) concerning the joint implementation of the road infrastructure project covering the Mpondwe/Kasindi-Beni Road (80 kilometers); the Bunagana-Rutshuru-Goma Road (89 kilometers); and the Beni-Butembo Axis (54 kilometers) on the territory of the Democratic Republic of Congo on 27th May 2021 at State House, Entebbe.
6. In a Ground- Breaking Event, the Heads of State commissioned the construction of the road infrastructure between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo and underlined that this historical event, will cause a tremendous change in the socio-economic transformation of lives of the two peoples. They directed the Contractor to execute the construction works in a timely manner.
7. The two Heads of State welcomed the construction of Mpondwe Bridge by Government of the Republic of Uganda linking the two countries and commended the on-going construction of the Mpondwe/Kasindi One Stop Border Post (OSBP) and Mpondwe Border Export Zone to facilitate trade, movement of people, goods and services between the two countries.
8. They directed that preparations for the construction of the Nebbi- Goli- Mahagi- Bunia road (190 kilometers), Bunia- Bogoro- Kasenyi road (55 Kilometers) and Rwebisengo-Budiba-Buguma-Njiyapanda road including the Budiba Bridge across River Semuliki (49 Kilometers) be undertaken as soon as possible.
9. The two Heads of State exchanged views on the security situation in the region especially in the Eastern DRC and stressed the need to maintain peace, security and stability in the region. In this regard, they reaffirmed their willingness to combine their efforts to neutralize negative armed groups destabilizing the region.
10. His Excellency Yoweri Kaguta Museveni expressed gratitude to His Excellency, Felix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo, President of the Democratic Republic of Congo and his accompanying delegation for honouring the invitation to the Ground – Breaking Ceremony for the commencement of the construction works.
11. His Excellency, Felix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo, President of the Democratic Republic of Congo extended an invitation to His Excellency Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, President of the Republic of Uganda to visit the Democratic Republic of Congo. The invitation was gladly accepted and the dates will be agreed through diplomatic channels.