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Crossing closed: How women on the Uganda-Rwanda border are coping

The two nations are not meeting to address the border issue for weeks, but cross-border traders do their best to get by.

Uganda women cross border traders [Alice McCool/Al Jazeera]
Security is tight at the Katuna border crossing. Immigration offices on the Ugandan side remain open to process people, but few are crossing. 'People are very scared,' explained Sheila Kawamara-Mishambi, the executive director of the Eastern African Sub-regional Support Initiative for the Advancement of Women (EASSI). [Alice McCool/Al Jazeera]
By Alice McCool
Published On 4 Oct 2019

Katuna-Gatuna Border Post, Uganda/Rwanda – Uganda and Rwanda are embroiled in an ongoing diplomatic row that has seen major border crossings between the countries closed since late February. Caught in the crossfire are women whose livelihoods depend on the free movement of goods, services and people across the Uganda-Rwanda border. 

In June, three civil society organisations filed a lawsuit on behalf of women traders against the Rwandan and Ugandan governments, alleging that the border closures infringe on multiple provisions of the 1999 Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community – including violating the economic rights of women to engage in trade. 

Hopes for improved relations were raised on August 21, when the presidents of both countries signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) aimed at ending months of tensions. But the two countries aren’t planning to discuss the thorny issue of the border until at least mid-October. 

In the meantime, women who rely on cross-border trade to make a living are struggling to get by. Al Jazeera visited the border town of Katuna to find out how they are adapting to these trying new circumstances.

Uganda women cross border traders [Alice McCool/Al Jazeera]
Miria Akanakwasa sits at her kitchen table at her home in Kabale, Uganda. Her wholesale shop in the border town of Katuna, a 30-minute drive away, has been paralysed by the border closures. Akankwasa is also chair of the Katuna Women Cross-border Multipurpose Traders Cooperative, which is part of a lawsuit that seeks to compel both governments to reopen the border and compensate women cross-border traders for the losses they have suffered. [Alice McCool/Al Jazeera]
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Uganda women cross border traders [Alice McCool/Al Jazeera]
'This used to be a busy place,' said Akankwasa as she walked through the now-deserted border town of Katuna. 'We used to have Katuna international market, where Rwandans and Ugandans would meet. But now we don't have people moving. People have no money and no business.' [Alice McCool/Al Jazeera]
Uganda women cross border traders [Alice McCool/Al Jazeera]
Olivia Tumwebaze, a Katuna landlord and cross-border trader, once used the rental income from her shops in Katuna and the profits from her agriculture business to stock electrical goods in her husband's shop in Kabale. The border closures have prevented the couple from replenishing their stock, and the financial blow has forced her to transfer her children to a less-reputable school with lower fees. [Alice McCool/Al Jazeera]
Uganda women cross border traders [Alice McCool/Al Jazeera]
Like practically everyone living or working in Katuna, Olivia Tumwebaze is concerned about security. 'In the hills of Uganda there are soldiers, and in the hills of Rwanda there are soldiers. Guns are well set facing both sides. So we people between those hills fear that anything might happen,' she said. [Alice McCool/Al Jazeera]
Uganda women cross border traders [Alice McCool/Al Jazeera]
'Some of my buildings were rented by people from Rwanda. They used them as shops and places to sleep,' said Olivia Tumwebaze, whose buildings are now empty after Rwandan traders left. 'Most of the goods inside must be spoiled now.' [Alice McCool/Al Jazeera]
Uganda women cross border traders [Alice McCool/Al Jazeera]
Miria Akankwasa still goes to her wholesale shop in Katuna most days, hoping for a passing customer - and ultimately, the reopening of the border. Akankwasa said she gave foam mattresses to clients in Rwanda on credit, but feels she is unlikely to get the money back now. On the mattresses alone, she said she has lost about nine million Ugandan shillings (nearly $2,500). [Alice McCool/Al Jazeera]
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Uganda women cross border traders [Alice McCool/Al Jazeera]
Among the boxes are large quantities of juice drinks, now unusable after they expired in April and early August. 'We called the factory people, [and] they said they won't pick up the expired juices because we are not selling, so we are losing a lot,' said Akankwasa. [Alice McCool/Al Jazeera]
Uganda women cross border traders [Alice McCool/Al Jazeera]
Glorius Kyoheirwe, co-director of Little Angels Primary School in Katuna, told Al Jazeera she had 56 pupils from Rwanda before the border closed. [Alice McCool/Al Jazeera]
Uganda women cross border traders [Alice McCool/Al Jazeera]
'Some parents like school here so their children [can] learn English,' she explained. Rwandan students have now been sent home, and many children of traders have also moved away. Kyoheirwe says those who remain are the children of Katuna locals, many of whom are now struggling to pay school fees. Kyoheirwe says this means she is 'failing to pay the salaries of my 12 teachers'. [Alice McCool/Al Jazeera]
Uganda women cross border traders [Alice McCool/Al Jazeera]
Penlope Kyasiimire used to work as a clearing agent who moved goods through customs stations on behalf of importers and exporters. Her office closed shortly after the border did. 'Now I just stay at home with my three kids - they are young so it's hard for me to move,' she explained. [Alice McCool/Al Jazeera]
Uganda women cross border traders [Alice McCool/Al Jazeera]
'There used to be about 100 exports trucks a day here, with maize flour, potatoes and maize grain, but because of the closure, nothing is going through,' Kyasiimire said as she gazed out at the road, which was empty except for cows and a few motorbike taxis. 'So now I'm earning nothing. We have eaten what we had, and we are now on zero.' [Alice McCool/Al Jazeera]
Uganda women cross border traders [Alice McCool/Al Jazeera]
A sign at the Katuna border crossing welcoming visitors to Uganda is surrounded by produce waiting to be sold in the town's market when it reopens. [Alice McCool/Al Jazeera]
Uganda women cross border traders [Alice McCool/Al Jazeera]
In spite of the challenges they face, the women of the Katuna Women Cross-border Multipurpose Traders Cooperative support each other. Some members have been making local crafts together in the absence of other work. 'Here in Kabale, at the border, most families depend on women,' said Olivia Tumwebaze. 'So we call upon the two governments to consider us who are suffering and who are depending on that trade.' [Alice McCool/Al Jazeera]