Mpondwe is a town in the Western Region of

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...

Location

Mpondwe is located in the

Rwenzori Mountains The Ruwenzori, also spelled Rwenzori and Rwenjura, are a range of mountains in eastern equatorial Africa, located on the border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The highest peak of the Ruwenzori reaches , and the range ...

Kasese District Kasese District is a district in Western Uganda. Like most other Ugandan districts, the town of Kasese is the site of the district headquarters. History In September 2022, the district was hit by deadly landslides. Location Kasese District ...

. The town is at the border with the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

(DRC). Bwera is another settlement to the immediate east of the Mpondwe border crossing. The Mpondwe Town Council incorporates Bwera, and in this article "Mpondwe" refers to the combined "Mpondwe-Bwera" metropolitan area. Mpondwe is approximately , by road, south-west of

Kasese Kasese is a town north of Lake George in the Western Region of Uganda. It originally grew around the copper mine at Kilembe, while attention later turned to cobalt mining. It is the chief town of Kasese District, and the district headquarters ...

, where the district headquarters are located. This is about southwest of

Fort Portal Fort Portal or Kabarole is a city located in the Western Region of Uganda. It is the seat of both Kabarole District and historically of the Toro Kingdom. Location Fort Portal in Kabarole District is located approximately by road, west of Kampa ...

, the nearest large city. Bwera is located approximately , by road, west of

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and Ruba ...

, Uganda's capital and largest city. The geographical coordinates of the town are 0° 02' 24.00"N, 29° 43' 30.00"E (Latitude:0.0400; Longitude:29.7250). The town sits at an average elevation of above

mean sea level There are several kinds of mean in mathematics, especially in statistics. Each mean serves to summarize a given group of data, often to better understand the overall value (magnitude and sign) of a given data set. For a data set, the '' ari ...

Overview

Mpondwe is one of the three busiest border crossings between Uganda and the

. The other two are Goli, in

Nebbi District Nebbi District is a district in Northern Uganda. It is named after its main municipal, commercial and administrative centre, Nebbi, the location of the district headquarters. Location Nebbi District is bordered by Madi Okollo District to the no ...

and Bunagana, in

Kisoro District Kisoro District is a district in the Western Region of Uganda. The town of Kisoro is the site of the district headquarters. Education Metropolitan International University in a secular private university licensed and accredited by National Co ...

. The town is the busiest border crossing between the two countries, based on volume of exports and imports.

Population

In 2002, the national population census estimated the population of Mpondwe at 12,050. In 2010, the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) estimated the population at 16,100. In 2011, UBOS estimated the mid-year population at 16,700. The national census in August 2014 put the population at 51,131. In 2015, UBOS estimated the population of Mpondwe Municipality at 52,000. In 2020, the population agency estimated the mid-year population of the town at 58,600 people. Of these, 30,400 (51.9 percent) were females and 28,200 (48.1 percent) were males. UBOS calculated the annual population growth rate of Mpondwe to average 2.34 percent per year, between 2015 and 2020.

One Stop Border Post

In March 2018,

The Independent (Uganda) ''The Independent'' is a newsmagazine published in Kampala, Uganda. Overview The newspaper covers general and business news. It also has dedicated sections for news analysis, Eastern African regional news and a features section. It comes out in ...

reported that the government of Uganda, had secured a loan of US$14 million (USh50.4 billion), to facilitate cross-border trade between Uganda and DR Congo. The Ugandan government, through the Uganda Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives and the Uganda Ministry of Works and Transport, in collaboration with other stakeholders plans to use the borrowed funds to construct a one-stop-border-post (OSBP) and a Border Export Zone (BEZ) at Mpondwe. Construction of the OSBP and BEZ was officially commissioned on Thursday 17 April 2019, by president

Yoweri Museveni Yoweri Kaguta Museveni Tibuhaburwa (born 15 September 1944) is a Ugandan politician and retired senior military officer who has been the 9th and current President of Uganda since 26 January 1986. Museveni spearheaded rebellions with aid of then ...

of Uganda. As of June 2022, completion of the OSBP and BEZ was estimated at 92 percent.

Points of interest

The following points of interest lie within the town limits or close to the edges of town: 1. Offices of the

Uganda Revenue Authority The Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) is a government revenue collection agency established by the Parliament of Uganda. Operating under the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, the URA is responsible for enforcing, assessing, ...

Bwera General Hospital Bwera General Hospital, also Bwera Hospital, is a hospital in the Western Region, Uganda, Western Region of Uganda. Location The hospital is located in the town of Bwera, in Kasese District, near the international border with DR Congo, approxim ...

- A 120-bed public Hospital, administered by the

Uganda Ministry of Health The Ministry of Health is a cabinet-level government ministry of Uganda. It is responsible for planning, delivering, and maintaining an efficient and effective healthcare delivery system, including preventive, curative, and rehabilitative service ...

3. Mpondwe Central Market 4. Offices of Mpondwe-Bwera Town Council 5. International border crossing between Uganda and the

6. Mpondwe Border Export Zone (In development). 7. The Mbarara–Kisangani Road crosses between Uganda and DRC at this location.

Prominent people

Crispus Kiyonga Crispus Walter Kiyonga (born 1 January 1952), whose first name is sometimes spelled Chrispus, is a Ugandan physician, politician and diplomat, who serves as Uganda's Ambassador to China, based in Beijing. He previously served as the Minister of ...

- Physician and politician. Current Ambassador to China and former Minister of defence in the Cabinet of Uganda. He was born here and maintains a home in the area. He also served as the elected member of Parliament for this constituency.

References

{{Kasese District, state=collapsed Kasese District Rwenzururu sub-region Populated places in Western Region, Uganda Democratic Republic of the Congo–Uganda border crossings Cities in the Great Rift Valley