By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Uganda is violating a United Nations arms embargo by entering South Sudan with armoured and air force units and conducting air strikes, South Sudan’s First Vice President, Riek Machar, has alleged.
The allegation is contained in a letter addressed to the UN, African Union, and the IGAD regional bloc, in which Machar said Uganda’s military intervention in South Sudan had violated a 2018 peace deal that ended a brutal five-year civil war.
Uganda’s military chief, Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, had earlier in the month said his country had deployed special forces to Juba, the capital of South Sudan, to assist President Salva Kiir in “securing it”.
Gen. Kainerugaba, son of Uganda’s long-term leader, President Yoweri Museveni, did not provide reasons for the deployment to the neighbouring country but warned that any move against Kiir “is a declaration of war against Uganda”.
State security forces have, in recent weeks, raided the homes of officials loyal to Machar following clashes in South Sudan’s northeast between the military and the White Army militia, a force the government accuses Machar of supporting.
Machar’s SPLM-IO party denies any ongoing links with the White Army, which is mostly composed of armed ethnic Nuer fighters who fought alongside Machar against Kiir’s largely Dinka forces during the 2013-2018 civil war.
Uganda has expressed concern about a possible implosion in South Sudan that could trigger waves of refugees crossing the border and potentially cause instability.
“The Ugandan forces are currently taking part in airstrikes against civilians,” Machar said in the letter dated 23 March, urging pressure on Uganda to withdraw its troops.
In a series of now-deleted posts published on X in the early hours of Sunday, Kainerugaba wrote: “I’m tired of killing Nuer,” referring to Machar’s ethnic group.
“Tell your leader Riek Machar to come and kneel down before ‘our’ President H.E. Salva Kiir,” added Kainerugaba, who has a history of making inflammatory statements that have previously sparked diplomatic tensions in the region.
