Rwanda Uganda Katuna Border Opens to Tourists : After nearly two years of being closed to both visitors and commercial truck drivers, the Rwandan land border has reopened. On November 27, 2022, H.E. President Paul Kagame and Gen. Muhoozi reached an accord. There have been rumours that H.E Yoweri Kaguta Museveni addressed a private letter to H.E Paul Kagame this week on the reopening of the land border.

Gen. Muhoozi spearheaded the Ugandan side’s resolution of these issues after he and President Kagame eventually agreed to take up this option to alleviate the tension between the two nations that had been simmering for almost five years. The Rwandan side stated that they will not restore the land border with Uganda as a measure of safety for the Rwandan people, and this was passed on February 28th, 2020.

Exactly two years later, the first son and commander of the UPDF land troops, Lt Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, and President Paul Kagame, through the Rwandan government, declared that the land border will be reopened in January 2022. The Rwanda border is planned to reopen on Monday, January 31st, 2022.

Uganda and Rwanda have two land borders: the Gatuna/Katuna land border and the Cyanika/Kyanika land border. However, this decision only applies to the Gatuna land border; there is hope that the other land border would be reopened as well. Gen. Muhoozi also serves as a Presidential Advisor on Special Operations, and he just visited Rwanda with the special letter on January 22nd.

Uganda and Rwanda are close neighboring nations that have had a long history of cooperation, and Gen. Muhoozi and H.E Paul met to revive the bilateral connections between these two sister countries, which were fraying at the time. On the 21st of February, the 4th Quadripartite Summit was conducted at the Gatuna/Katuna border, and now that the communication has been stamped and sealed, the Katuna/Gatuna land border will reopen on the 31st of January 2022.

The other land crossings are waiting for word on when they will be reopened, as the ministries and authorities in charge of health assess how they will deal with the new situation.

Following the Covid pandemic breakout, all Uganda-Rwanda land crossings were blocked as governments considered restricting movement across borders in attempt to prevent the virus’s spread. The health authorities in either nation have not yet revealed the guidelines that will regulate cross-border migration following COVID-19, therefore we are also waiting for this information.

This information comes at an opportune moment, and it demonstrates some developing unity and mending of connections between Uganda and Rwanda on a political and security level.

In terms of tourism, Uganda’s tourist sector once coexisted with Rwanda’s, and there were a number of Rwanda safaris and Uganda safaris that began and concluded in either country, but these safaris had been halted.

Looking at the Uganda safari of gorilla trekking Bwindi from Kigali, where visitors arrived at the Kigali International airport and then took a 4-hour road transfer to the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park for a chance to go gorilla trekking was not feasible, guests may now experience both nations.

Uganda, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are the world’s only mountain gorilla habitats, and Kigali International Airport is a great airport to land at to connect to all three destinations and the cheaper option without flights, and the land border with Uganda was the only one that was closed, as the DR Congo’s was reopened shortly after the country was released from the lockdown.

Travelling in Rwanda after Covid is becoming simpler, as the necessary 24-hour quarantine for all arrivals has been relaxed, and guests will now just be needed to produce a test done within the past 72 hours and perform a mandatory PCR test and fast test upon arrival. They can resume their safari after the rapid has been cleared.

Guests will, however, be obliged to take another PCR test on their third day in the nation. More of these policies were approved to go into effect on Thursday, January 27th, and will be revisited in a month. This gives me a lot of optimism for the reintroduction of simple travel to and from Rwanda. We look forward to hearing from you in order to schedule your Rwanda Safari tour.