Mpondwe

Mpondwe is a town in Western Uganda.

Location

Mpondwe is located in the Rwenzori Mountains, in Kasese District, Western Uganda. The town lies at the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Bwera is another settlement to the immediate east of Mpondwe border crossing. The Mpondwe Town Council incorporates Bwera and in this article Mpondwe refers to the combined Mpondwe-Bwera metropolitan area.

Mpondwe is located approximately 37 kilometres (23 mi), by road, southwest of Kasese, the district headquarters. This location lies approximately 390 kilometres (240 mi), by road, west of Kampala, Uganda's capital and largest city. The coordinates of the town are:0° 02' 24.00"N, 29° 43' 30.00"E (Latitude:0.0400; Longitude:29.7250).

Overview

Mpondwe is a busy border town in Western Uganda at its border with the DRC. In 2005, the town was the busiest border crossing between Uganda and DRC, based on volume of exports and imports. See table below:

The road from Mpondwe all the way to Kampala is all-weather tarmac. On the Congolese side of the border, the road from the border town of Kasindi to Beni is murram. From Beni, the highway continues south to Bukavu and west to Kisangani.