Security personnel at the Pakwach UPDF checkpoint have arrested five Congolese nationals who were travelling to Kampala after allegedly sneaking into Uganda through unauthorized border routes in an attempt to evade Ebola-related movement restrictions.
The suspects were intercepted following a tip-off as they travelled in a private vehicle through Pakwach District, a key transit point for travellers heading from the West Nile sub-region to central Uganda.
Pakwach Deputy Resident District Commissioner Achile Twaibu confirmed the arrests and said the five would be deported to the Democratic Republic of Congo in line with government measures aimed at preventing the cross-border spread of Ebola.
The arrests have heightened concern among authorities that some travellers are attempting to exploit porous sections of the Uganda-DR Congo border to bypass screening and movement controls introduced following the Ebola outbreak in eastern DR Congo.
According to Twaibu, the latest arrests are part of a broader crackdown on illegal border crossings that has already seen dozens of individuals intercepted and returned.
Authorities say many of those intercepted are believed to have entered through informal crossing points before joining public transport, motorcycles or private vehicles destined for major urban centres, including Kampala.
Meanwhile, Ministry of Health Commissioner and Ebola Incident Manager Jimmy Opigo said health authorities have intensified surveillance across the West Nile sub-region, particularly at border points, bus parks and major transit corridors.
Dr Opigo, who is coordinating Ebola preparedness and response activities in the region, said health teams are working closely with security agencies to ensure that anyone entering the country undergoes the required screening procedures.
Health officials have observed a growing trend of travellers attempting to bypass official screening points by using informal routes and private means of transport.
The arrests come amid heightened surveillance operations along Uganda’s western border following the Ebola outbreak in neighbouring eastern DR Congo.
Security and health authorities say screening, community sensitisation and movement monitoring will continue across West Nile as Uganda remains on high alert against the threat of a cross-border Ebola outbreak.
Uganda has in recent weeks imposed some of its toughest public health measures in response to the Ebola outbreak in DR Congo, including the temporary closure of its border with DR Congo and the suspension of flights to and from Kinshasa, in a bid to curb cross-border transmission of the deadly viral haemorrhagic disease.
The measures were prompted by a series of imported infections linked to travellers from DR Congo. Uganda’s first confirmed Ebola case was a 59-year-old Congolese national who travelled to Kampala for treatment and later died at a private hospital, triggering the declaration of an outbreak in the country.
Since then, the majority of confirmed cases in Uganda have been epidemiologically linked to cross-border movement from DR Congo, with health authorities reporting that many of the infected individuals were Congolese nationals who entered the country while carrying the virus during its incubation period before symptoms emerged.
As of early June, 14 of Uganda’s 19 confirmed Ebola cases were imported, underscoring the central role of cross-border transmission in the outbreak.