Ugandan and Tanzanian officials have opened talks aimed at reaffirming the borders of their two countries as directed by presidents Yoweri Museveni and John Pombe Joseph Magufuli.
The meeting on Thursday was in line with the directives of the two presidents during their meeting in March 2016 in Arusha, Tanzania as well as the decisions of the of the ministerial sessions on Uganda-Tanzania cross border issues which was held on July 29, 2017 in Bukoba, Tanzania.
Uganda’s High Commissioner to Tanzania Richard Kabonero, who opened the meeting at LAICO Lake Victoria Hotel in Entebbe, led the Ugandan delegation, while the Tanzanian delegation was led by Suleiman A. Saleh, Assistant Director-Africa Department in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Entebbe meeting reviewed progress in the implementation of the directives of the two Heads of State on border reaffirmation, discussed and adopted a budget for the exercise and drew up a work plan as well as developed guidelines for the reaffirmation exercise which is to be jointly undertaken by experts from both Uganda and Tanzania.
The two countries also agreed to use the International Terrestrial Reference Frame (ITRF) 2014 datum system to coordinate the existing boundary pillars in order to obtain the most accurate coordinates of Border Points.
Once accomplished, the border reaffirmation exercise will result in clear border markings, reduction/elimination of cross border conflicts, joint planning and development of border areas. At the end of the exercise, a Protocol will be signed by the two countries and deposited with both African Union and the United Nations in accordance with the African Union deadline of 2022.
