The presence of Ugandan troops in South Sudan is provoking controversy, as rifts widened this week between coalition partners in the peace deal government.
First Vice President Riek Machar has accused Uganda of violating a United Nations arms embargo by entering South Sudan with armoured and air force units and carrying out air strikes across the country.
In a letter to the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (Igad), the African Union and the UN, Dr Machar asked for intervention to force the Ugandan troops out.
The Ugandan People’s Defence Forces deployed in Juba and Upper Nile State on March 14.
Dr Machar, who is in government with President Salva Kiir as part of a 2018 peace deal, said the troops were deployed without the approval of South Sudan’s transitional government.
The letter, dated March 23, was addressed to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, AU Peace and Security Council Commissioner Bankole Adeoye, and Igad chairman Ismail Omar Guelleh, who is also Djibouti’s president.
“The agreement that invited the Ugandan military to South Sudan known as the Status of Forces Agreement between the Government Republic of Uganda and the Government of the Republic of South Sudan was signed on 10th January 2014. The agreement was not signed by the Revitalised Transitional Government of National Unity (RTGoNU), and as such the Revitalised Agreement takes precedence over the Status of Forces Agreement between Uganda and South Sudan,” he wrote, referring to the official name of the Igad-brokered 2018 peace deal.
Uganda says it sent troops to South Sudan at the request of President Kiir following skirmishes in Upper Nile state, between a militia linked to Machar and government forces.
On March 14, Uganda’s Chief of Defence Forces, Muhoozi Kainerugaba said they had deployed troops to Juba “to secure it.”
“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.
Uganda previously deployed troops to Juba and Bor in December 2013, when a fierce civil war erupted between Kiir and the forces loyal to Machar. The troops withdrew in 2015, but were deployed again in 2016 after the two sides returned to war. They left the country later that year.
Last week, Uganda’s parliament retrospectively approved the deployment in South Sudan, with the ruling National Resistance Movement arguing that parliamentary approval was a mere formality.
Arrests in Lake State
In South Sudan, the National Security Service (NSS) arrested the deputy governor of Lakes State, Isaiah Akol Mathiang, and several other state officials on Monday in a move targeting allies of Machar.
Dr Akol, who chairs Machar’s opposition party, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-in-Opposition (SPLM-IO), in Lakes State, was detained a day after condemning airstrikes by South Sudanese and Ugandan troops in Upper Nile State.
Those arrested in the Monday swoop included Lake States’ lawmaker Ater Akolde, the Animal Resources minister Gai Magok, and the region’s SPLM-IO youth league chairperson Mandela Machiek.
Authorities had, two weeks ago, arrested the country’s Petroleum minister Puot Kang and the Deputy Chief of Staff Gen Duom Lap. They remain in detention, accused of fuelling the violence, despite of Igad calls for their release.
The latest wave of violence erupted in early March, pitting the military against the White Army, a militia predominantly composed of Nuer youth loyal to Machar. Tensions flared when the government announced plans to replace long-serving troops with newly deployed forces. Fearing targeted attacks or forced disarmament, local armed youth rejected the deployment and instead demanded a unified force.
Days later, the SPLM-IO raised concerns about heavy military deployment near Machar’s residence, heightening fears about the peace agreement’s stability. The situation deteriorated rapidly when military confrontations broke out, culminating in the White Army seizing control of Nasir, a strategic town near the Ethiopian border.
The White Army, notorious for its history of ethnic violence, clashed fiercely with government forces. The violence took an even more tragic turn when a UN helicopter, on an evacuation mission in Nasir, came under fire. The attack killed a crew member and critically injured two others.
Military commander Gen Majur Dak, who had been captured by the White Army, was executed days later, further inflaming hostilities.
The developments came even as the UN warned that parties to the peace deal in South Sudan were abandoning their obligations, a sign of imminent war.
“These indiscriminate attacks on civilians are causing significant casualties and horrific injuries, especially burns. Given this grim situation, we are left with no other conclusion but to assess that South Sudan is teetering on the edge of a relapse into civil war,” said Nicholas Haysom, UNmiss head of mission, during a press conference in Juba.
“Rampant misinformation, disinformation, and hate speech are also ratcheting up tensions and driving ethnic divisions and fear.”
Subscribe to continue reading this premium articleSubscribe to continue reading this premium article
