Business suffers as buses, cargo trucks to Goma cancel services
United Nations truck drivers and Congolese civilians who fled from Goma, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo following fighting between M23 rebels and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC), gather at the border post to be received by Rwandan authorities in Gisenyi, Rubavu district, Rwanda, January 28, 2025.
Hundreds of travellers, mostly cross-border traders and shoppers, have been left stranded in Kampala, Uganda and Gisenyi, the Rwandan border town with DR Congo, after interstate bus and cargo transport operators withdrew their services to Goma, a city that was overrun by the Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC)/M23 rebel group on Monday morning.
The rebels also closed two common borders, Bunagana (Uganda) and Gisenyi (Rwanda), the main routes into the city. Passengers travelling on the Kampala-Goma route were also stuck as the buses were parked in various parks in Kampala awaiting for new developments in the Congo conflict.
