KAGERA: KAGERA Regional Commissioner (RC), Fatma Mwassa has highlighted the importance of border security between Tanzania and Uganda for sustainable development.
She made the remarks on Tuesday in Bukoba Municipality while opening a three-days meeting that also attracted a delegation of officials from neighbouring Uganda.
In her opening remarks read by the Kagera Regional Administrative Secretary (RAS), Stephen Ndaki, she said Tanzania was committed to ensure lasting peace and security between the two countries.
“Apart from being close neighbours, Tanzania and Uganda share common cultures and have enjoyed mutual friendship for many years” she said.
A Senior official from the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Human Settlements, Mr Hamdouny Mansoor explained that the main focus of the meeting was implementation of the African Union (AU) Convention on Cross Border Cooperation (Niamey Convention, 2014), which aims to ensure efficient and effective integrated border management by 2027.
“The main objective of the African Union Border Programme (AUBP) is the promotion of peace, security and stability through delimitation and demarcation of borders and cross-border cooperation. The African Union Strategy for a Better Integrated Border Governance (AUBGS) is an instrument developed to use borders as vectors to promote peace, security and stability,” he said.
ALSO READ: Kagera to commercialise banana farming
Ms Jacqueline Wabyona, leader of the visiting Ugandan team, explained that Uganda and Tanzania have a long history thus the need to cement our common borders.
The Tanzania Uganda border covers 397.8 kilometres, of which 109 kilometres is an island, 42.8 kilometres is part of the Kagera River while 246 kilometres is occupied by the Lake Victoria.
