Uganda could be bracing for a fresh border dispute with DR Congo after authorities in Kampala yesterday claimed the ownership of Mpondwe Market understood to be on the latter's terrain, Daily Monitor has learnt.

The government move to interfere in the affairs of Mpondwe border, in Kasese District came after MPs on the Agriculture Committee heard that for Ugandans to access it, they go through border security checks and need travel permits.

"Mpondwe Market was inappropriately constructed [by the government] outside the national border post.

As a consequence of this, the market may not serve the purpose it was intended for because users (Ugandans) have to pass through customs and border security checks before getting to the market," a new special audit report on the Shs62.3 billion fisheries project reads in part.

Explaining reports that Mpondwe Market was constructed in DR Congo, the Agriculture Minister, Ms Hope Mwesigye, who was appearing before the committee yesterday said the market is on Ugandan soil and that the government was in the process of relocating the border pillars back to their original position.

"It's inappropriate for people to require visas when going to the market. This is our territory, the border posts were only relocated by Uganda Revenue Authority because there was insecurity in the area," Ms Mwesigye said. "I am going to write to the ministries of Internal Affairs and Foreign Affairs to relocate the border posts at Mpondwe."

While the authorities in DR Congo have not spoken on the issue, the government decision to shift the border pillars without consulting authorities in Kinshasa 13 years ago is likely to spawn into a fresh boarder dispute with Uganda.

A senior official in the Ministry Internal Affairs, who requested not to be named because he is not supposed to speak to the press, told Daily Monitor yesterday that the border posts were relocated in November 1996, following a 30-minute barrage of heavy artillery from the DR Congo rebels towards the border post.

However, the MPs led by Buvuma legislator William Nsubuga and George William Wopua (Manafwa) demanded that the border posts be relocated to their original sites as a matter of urgency.

"Mpodwe Market was constructed using our money, why should people be checked? We must take the border posts back to their original sites because the market is on Uganda's side of the border," Mr Nsubuga said.

In May last year, President Museveni and Joseph Kabila met to restore relations which had worsened following the occupation of a disputed border area in West Nile by the Congolese army.