On Monday, March 7, Rwanda reopened all its land borders, which were officially closed with the appearance of the first cases of Covid-19 in the country. That was two years ago, in March 2020, except for two of its neighbors whose borders were closed due to political-security crises, namely Burundi in late 2015 and Uganda in 2018.
Thus, on Monday, all the borders reopened to ordinary citizens, whether in Uganda, Tanzania or the DRC, officially because of the progress made in the fight against the coronavirus. Everywhere this reopening was celebrated, according to the media of these different countries, with the only exception of Burundi which seemed to have barricaded itself.
Installation of new computers, cleaning of offices and their surroundings… On the Rwandan side, the services concerned had prepared for the reopening of the borders with Burundi, at the border post of Kanyaru-Haut, according to witnesses on the spot.
Rwandan officials even let local people through, eager to see their relatives and friends on the other side of the border. They went forward to the Burundian side where the barrier was down. It was therefore impossible for them to go any further.