Uganda's President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni (left) interacts with his South Sudan counterpart Salva Kiir shortly on arrival to attend the 4th National Liberation Council Meeting of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement in Juba on Thursday May 3, 2018.
Uganda has moved to rectify the legal gaps in deploying troops to Juba, in what it argues is a move to protect President Salva Kiir, an ally of Kampala.
That deployment had been clothed in confusion, however, after heads of the military and the ministry of defence contradicted each other. On Friday, officials said Uganda was responding to an SOS from President Kiir to have backup security.
On Wednesday, Uganda’s Chief of Defence Forces (CDF), Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba confirmed troops were heading to Juba to secure the presidency of Salva Kiir. It came before parliament endorsed such a deployment as is a legal requirement but was Uganda’s response to escalating tensions in South Sudan, where a local militia associated with First Vice President Riek Machar has terrorised the army.
In fact, South Sudan itself had denied such a deployment.
“As of two days ago, our Special Forces units entered Juba to secure it,” Mr Muhoozi said on the X platform.
“We the UPDF (Ugandan military), only recognise one President of South Sudan, HE Salva Kiir … any move against him is a declaration of war against Uganda,” he added.
Yet Uganda’s Minister for Defence Jacob Oboth Oboth told had Uganda’s Parliament on Tuesday that there was no such deployment, for which Gen Muhoozi responded by undercutting the role of the minister in such matters.
According to him, the minister simply represents the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) in Parliament but is never involved in the operation of the army.
Article 210 of the Constitution of Uganda gives Parliament powers to approve any deployment of troops outside Uganda. It approved the first deployment to South Sudan in 2013, and 2015, when a war erupted there.
It approved troops to Somalia where they served as part of an African Union mission and also endorsed Uganda’s joint operation with Democratic Republic of Congo forces against the extremist group Allied Democratic Forces (ADF).
“Parliament shall make laws regulating the Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces and, in particular, providing for .... terms and conditions of service of members of the Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces; and the deployment of troops outside Uganda,” the Ugandan supreme law says.
Uganda has since quickly followed up to rectify the legal gaps in the deployment. President Yoweri Museveni summoned members of Parliament from the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) for a meeting at State House, Entebbe.
During the meeting, the members endorsed the deployment of Uganda Peoples Defence Forces (UPDF) to the neighbouring South Sudan, according to the Government Chief Whip, Denis Hamson Obua.
“We the members of the NRM Parliamentary Caucus affirm that the deployment of the UPDF is in line with Uganda's Constitution and the UPDF Act,” said Obua.
“We have resolved to support the deployment of the UPDF in South Sudan as a necessary intervention for peace enforcement to protect lives, restore stability, and prevent further escalation of conflict.”
Obua, who is also the Chairperson of the Caucus, revealed that the South Sudan President, Salva Kiir had appealed to his Uganda counterpart, Yoweri Museveni for military assistance.
“We are mindful of the recent appeal by HE Salva Kiir, President of the Republic of South Sudan to HE Gen Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, for urgent support following the outbreak of conflict in South Sudan,” said Obua.
“The deployment is also in the spirit of brotherhood, solidarity, and security of Uganda and the economy.”
Mr Obua said the deployment did not seek Parliamentary approval because peace enforcement is considered an emergency. He said it the House can then approve retrospectively, adding that if it happens when Parliament is on recess, the speaker must summon the House within 21 days.
This is not the first time Uganda has deployed in South Sudan. The country’s army deployed in Juba and Bor in December 2013, when a fierce civil war erupted between Kiir and the forces loyal to Machar. The army withdrew in 2015 but was deployed again in 2016 after the two sides went to war again. They eventually left the country in 2016.
A 2018 power-sharing agreement between the two leaders ended the fighting, are elements of the deal, which would have brought lasting peace remain unimplemented.
This week, the 43rd Extraordinary Assembly of the regional bloc, Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) Heads of State and Government, which convened on Wednesday, asked leaders in South Sudan to embrace dialogue and cease hostilities.
The summit, chaired by Djibouti President Ismaïl Omar Guelleh, said President Museveni Kenyan counterpart William Ruto had helped beseech the protagonists to calm tensions.
The summit also asked the chairman to constitute an IGAD Ministerial-level sub-committee on South Sudan to engage and monitor the restoration of calm about the implementation and observing timelines for tasks including the necessary unification of forces, drafting of the constitution, and preparations for the elections.
For Uganda, South Sudan is both an economic and security issue Juba a leading market for Ugandan products, yet it is also the biggest source of refugees on Ugandan soil. Their numbers have over the years put pressure on the government and international agencies for the provision of essential services in the refugee camps amidst inadequate funding. Uganda, one of the leading refugee hosts in the world, has up some 1.5 million refugees. Eight in every 10 refugees in Uganda are from South Sudan, official data shows.
