This paper analyses how Ugandan army commanders have mobilised transborder
economic networks to exploit economic opportunities in eastern DRC during the
military intervention of the Ugandan People’s Defence Force (UPDF) in Congo’s
wars (1996-97; 1998-2003). These transborder networks are the starting point of
our evaluation of the informal political structures and networks linking Uganda’s
15 political centre to Congo’s war complex. While it is often claimed that military
entrepreneurismalism in the DRC has undermined political stability in Uganda,
we argue that the activities of Ugandan military entrepreneurs and networks
under their control were an integral part of Uganda’s governance regime. Crucial
to the development of this entrepreneurialism was the existence of pre-war
20 transborder networks of economic exchange that were connecting Congo to
eastern African markets. Military control over these highly informalised networks
facilitated UPDF commanders’ access to Congo’s resources. Rather than
operating as privatised sources of accumulation, these military shadow networks
were directly linked to the inner circles of the Ugandan regime.
