The government of Uganda has handed over $65m (£55m) as the first instalment of a fine it was ordered to pay the Democratic Republic of Congo for invading the east of the country two decades ago, Congolese authorities have confirmed.
Africa Today News, New York recalls that in February, the International Court of Justice ( ICJ) had ordered Uganda to pay $325m as reparations.
The amount reportedly covers:
- $225m for damages to persons
- $40m for damages to property
- $60m for the looted resources
The ICJ ordered Uganda to pay five annual instalments of $65m between 2022 and 2026, with the first instalment due in September.
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The payment is a sign of the vastly improved relations between the two neighbouring countries.
It is also a rare case of accountability for violations of international law.
Africa Today News, New York recalls that sometime in 2005 the court said Uganda’s invasion of eastern DR Congo led to civilians being killed and tortured while villages were destroyed.
Along with Rwanda, Uganda was backing rebels trying to overthrow the late President Laurent Kabila.
Three other African countries joined in the conflict which is thought to have left more than two million people dead – either killed by soldiers and rebels or as a result of disease and hunger.
Meanwhile, local sources have confirmed that rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Monday declared the reopening of a border post between the DRC and Uganda that they had taken on June 13, as fighting raged further west.
The M23 rebel group, which Kinshasa accuses Kigali of supporting, has heightened tensions between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and its eastern neighbour Rwanda in recent weeks.
A primarily Congolese Tutsi militia that is one of scores of armed groups in eastern DRC, the M23 leapt to global prominence in 2012 when it captured Goma.