Commodity prices drop as border reopens

Commodity prices which had shot up in the eastern Congolese towns of Goma and Bukavu have dropped significantly following a decision by the Rwandan government to reopen its border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Rwandans living near the border told IRIN on Tuesday. Residents said the prices for several consumer goods, which had more than doubled during the month-long border closure, had by Tuesday returned to normal, following the reopening of the border on Saturday. Commodities whose prices had doubled included items such as bananas, meat, tomatoes and beans, which are mainly exported to eastern DRC from the Rwandan provinces of Gisenyi and Cyangugu. The residents also attributed the price decline to a fall in fuel prices, which had also shot up during the border closure. A litre of petrol in Goma had increased to US $2 but fell to $1 after Saturday. Fuel consumed in most parts of the DRC provinces of North and South Kivu passes through Rwanda. "Even pharmacies which were running out of drugs are now being stocked," Alice Umurangwa, an Internet cafe attendant in Goma, said. "Almost all shops are open and running." Rwanda reopened the border in a move aimed at easing tensions between the two central African nations, following the 26 May-8 June fighting in Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu Province, between dissident and loyalist DRC troops. Bukavu is near the border with Rwanda. The dissidents occupied Bukavu until 8 June when they withdrew, and the loyalists re-entered the town a day later. DRC President Joseph Kabila had accused Rwanda of supporting the dissidents, who had invaded Bukavu ostensibly to protect Congolese Tutsis, known as Banyamulenge, from persecution by loyalist military officials. Rwanda had earlier said its border would remain closed until the UN and the African Union set up a verification mechanism to "expeditiously investigate" and report on the allegations. On Saturday, Rwanda said it had reopened the border on humanitarian grounds and at the request of the international community. The Rwandan government said the reopening was in line with an agreement between Kabila and Rwandan President Paul Kagame, who met recently in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, and committed themselves to easing the tension on their common border. They also resolved to set up a joint verification mechanism to investigate activities on the border, and have vowed to adhere to the terms of a 2002 peace agreement signed in Pretoria, South Africa. Rwanda has twice deployed its troops in the DRC, first in 1996 to back rebels who ousted the dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, and again in 1998 in support of a former rebel movement based in eastern DRC.