Government to US: We won’t leave S. Sudan
UPDF soldiers guard Juba Airport recently. The government says the army
will not leave South Sudan until normalcy returns. COURTESY PHOTO.
By Barbara Among
Posted Monday, February 10 2014 at 02:00
Posted Monday, February 10 2014 at 02:00
In Summary
Army and government officials insist the UPDF will
stay put because of the possible implications of the conflict in South
Sudan on Uganda’s economy and security.
Kampala
Kampala
Uganda will not withdraw its troops from South
Sudan as demanded by the US government, military and foreign affairs
officials have said.
US President Barack Obama’s government at the
weekend issued a strongly-worded statement, calling for the withdrawal
of foreign forces that have been deployed to quell the internal conflict
between South Sudan President Salva Kiir and his former deputy Riek
Machar.
“We urge the redeployment or phased withdrawal of foreign forces invited by either side, and warn of the serious consequences which could result from any regionalisation of this conflict,” said Ms Jen Psaki, a State Department spokesperson, in the statement.
“We urge the redeployment or phased withdrawal of foreign forces invited by either side, and warn of the serious consequences which could result from any regionalisation of this conflict,” said Ms Jen Psaki, a State Department spokesperson, in the statement.
Whereas the statement did not directly mention
Uganda, the UPDF is currently the only foreign force deployed in South
Sudan, fighting alongside troops loyal to President Kiir.
The army spokesperson, Lt Col Paddy Ankunda, yesterday said Uganda would stick to what was agreed by regional leaders.
The army spokesperson, Lt Col Paddy Ankunda, yesterday said Uganda would stick to what was agreed by regional leaders.
“We went to help South Sudanese people when
everybody else ran away. Now here they are giving us orders. We will
follow the Addis Ababa agreement in consultation with the South Sudan
government. We are members of Igad and cannot violate our own
agreement,” he said.
The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (Igad), which has brokered a temporary ceasefire between the warring groups, recently approved the deployment of a 5,500 strong force to keep the truce.
The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (Igad), which has brokered a temporary ceasefire between the warring groups, recently approved the deployment of a 5,500 strong force to keep the truce.
It was not clear whether Uganda’s troops already
in South Sudan would automatically be part of this force. Mr Machar’s
group has continuously demanded the UPDF withdraws as one of the
conditions for observing a truce.
Government’s take
The government position was reinforced by Mr Fred Opolot, the spokesperson of the Foreign Affairs ministry, who said the UPDF will stay put because of the possible implications of the conflict in South Sudan on Uganda’s economy and security.
The government position was reinforced by Mr Fred Opolot, the spokesperson of the Foreign Affairs ministry, who said the UPDF will stay put because of the possible implications of the conflict in South Sudan on Uganda’s economy and security.
“The instability in South Sudan makes Uganda
vulnerable to negative forces like the LRA who could re-enter the
country and Uganda cannot allow that to happen,” said Mr Opolot.
“African problems warrant African solutions but with the support of the international community, Uganda will continue to work under the Igad arrangement until peace returns to South Sudan,” he added.
“African problems warrant African solutions but with the support of the international community, Uganda will continue to work under the Igad arrangement until peace returns to South Sudan,” he added.
Mr Opolot also said Uganda had entered South Sudan
with the blessing of President Kiir and that it had also received
clearance from regional governments to protect key installations in the
restive nation.
Asked for the Presidency’s view on the US demand,
the President’s spokesperson, Mr Tamale Mirundi, said: “The President’s
decision to deploy in South Sudan was endorsed by Parliament. I would be
worried if the US said if Uganda does not leave South Sudan, we will
declare war. It is just an opinion, for the sake of big power politics.”
Norway recently made a similar call to have the
UPDF withdrawn from South Sudan which went largely unnoticed. The US
pronouncement, however, is significant considering its economic and
security ties with Uganda. For example, the US is the largest funder of
Uganda’s mission in Somalia, where the UPDF is heading a regional
peace-keeping mission.
Ms Psaki also raised concern over repeated claims
of violations of the ceasefire agreement by both South Sudan’s
government and rebels. Meanwhile, negotiations between Kiir’s government
and the rebels are scheduled to resume on February 13 in Addis Ababa.
There is no more fighting in south sudan, says updf
The UPDF has said a combined force of the Ugandan
army and the SPLA has weakened the South Sudan rebels and pushed them to
a far-away place from which they cannot fight anymore.
The UPDF spokesperson, Col Paddy Ankunda, while reacting to claims by the rebels that they had hit a Ugandan helicopter gunship, killing a Lance Corporal who was a gunner, dismissed the claim as a pack of lies.
The UPDF spokesperson, Col Paddy Ankunda, while reacting to claims by the rebels that they had hit a Ugandan helicopter gunship, killing a Lance Corporal who was a gunner, dismissed the claim as a pack of lies.
“There is no fighting and that is why the rebels
have resorted to telling lies. You know it is easier to say you have
shot down a plane when there is no shoot out,” Col Ankunda said.
The cessation in fighting has been attributed to a recently signed truce during peace talks in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The Ugandan helicopter was allegedly damaged on Friday afternoon in the South Sudanese central State of Lakes, the rebels’ spokesperson, Brig Gen Lul Ruai Koang, told the Sudan Tribune.
The cessation in fighting has been attributed to a recently signed truce during peace talks in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The Ugandan helicopter was allegedly damaged on Friday afternoon in the South Sudanese central State of Lakes, the rebels’ spokesperson, Brig Gen Lul Ruai Koang, told the Sudan Tribune.
Withdraw troops from South Sudan, US tells Uganda
UPDF spokesperson Paddy Ankunda addresses journalists at the army
headquarters in Mbuya, Kampala recently. PHOTO BY STEPHEN WANDERA
By TABU BUTAGIRA
Posted Thursday, February 13 2014 at 02:00
Posted Thursday, February 13 2014 at 02:00
In Summary
UPDF spokesperson Paddy Ankunda drops line that they will stay put in South Sudan, adding Foreign Affairs will respond to call.
KAMPALA- The Uganda army must leave South Sudan territory to stem genocide and allow citizens there enjoy a future of peace and prosperity they voted for, two top US government officials have said.
KAMPALA- The Uganda army must leave South Sudan territory to stem genocide and allow citizens there enjoy a future of peace and prosperity they voted for, two top US government officials have said.
Secretary of State John Kerry and President
Obama’s new top diplomat for Africa, Ms Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said
the cessation of hostilities agreement signed between the Government of
South Sudan and renegade Riek Machar forces also requires foreign troops
to pull back to defensive positions.
“We feel deeply committed, given past lessons, to
try to prevent the chaos and the genocide that too often comes [out] of
the violence that can occur if things break down,” Mr Kerry told
journalists during a virtual press conference on Tuesday. “We don’t want
this to cascade into a more violent repetition of the past. So, that’s
why we’re committed.”
The fighting between soldiers loyal to President
Salva Kiir and his former deputy Riek Machar broke out on December 15.
Uganda sent it’s troops several days later to fight alongside forces
loyal to President Kiir.
An estimated 8,000 people are said to have been killed and thousands displaced from their homes since December 15.
An estimated 8,000 people are said to have been killed and thousands displaced from their homes since December 15.
Ugandan officials, in response to Washington’s
initial February 8 call for withdrawal of foreign forces, insisted the
UPDF were invited by President Kiir and would stay put on South Sudan
soil, but that position seems under consideration.
“The government of Uganda will, through
appropriate channels and particularly the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
prepare a response to the US call [for UPDF withdrawal],” said military
spokesman Lt Col Paddy Ankunda, declining further comment.
Withdrawal of Ugandan troops, the only foreign
force that raced to prop up Kiir’s faltering government, is one of
pre-conditions set by Machar’s group at the ongoing IGAD-brokered talks
in Addis Ababa. Ethiopia has joined Norway in publicly asking the UPDF
to leave.
Both Ms Thomas-Greenfield and Secretary Kerry said
they will remain deeply involved in issues of South Sudan because the
US government under various administrations invested heavily to secure
its independence from Sudan.
Intra-SPLA clashes snowballed into countrywide
violence in December, last year, claiming thousands of lives, according
to the UN. President Kiir accused Machar of attempting a coup, but the
former vice president denied the charges.On Tuesday, Ms Thomas-Greenfield flagged democracy and good governance, LRA and other conflicts, gay rights and possible extension of AGOA – a legislation granting selected African countries tariff and quota-free exports to the US as priorities in US engagement with Africa.
