(JUBA) – The African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council has held talks with South Sudanese civil society representatives on the presence of Ugandan troops in the country, with both sides emphasising the need for their withdrawal to ease political and security tensions.
The discussions, held in Juba on Sunday, focused on the deployment of the Ugandan People’s Defence Forces (UPDF), which began in March following renewed tensions between President Salva Kiir and First Vice President Riek Machar. The deployment, codenamed Milnzi Wa Kimya – Swahili for “Silent Guardian” – has faced scrutiny over its size, mandate and funding.
A youth group from President Kiir’s home area recently claimed that each Ugandan soldier stationed in South Sudan is paid 200 US dollars per day, equivalent to about 920,000 South Sudanese Pounds (SSP). Neither the Ugandan nor South Sudanese governments have confirmed the claim.
Uganda has been a longstanding security ally of Juba, deploying forces in 2013 to back President Kiir during the civil war against Machar. That conflict left an estimated 400,000 people dead before a fragile peace deal was signed in 2018.
The current status of the UPDF deployment remains uncertain, as the troops were sent to South Sudan at the formal request of President Kiir. The AU and civil society groups have now urged the government to take steps towards their removal.
Civil society leader Edmund Yakani, who attended the closed-door AU meeting, said the talks produced several key recommendations. These included calls for an immediate halt to clashes between government forces and opposition troops, and the full withdrawal of the UPDF from South Sudan.
Yakani added that participants urged the African Union to appoint a former African head of state as the AU High-Level Representative to South Sudan to mediate unresolved disputes from the 2018 peace agreement. Other proposals included an inclusive political dialogue on the conditions for national elections, the unconditional release of political detainees – including the first vice president – and the separation of constitutional review processes from the electoral timetable.
The AU meeting was chaired by Algeria and brought together members of the Peace and Security Council and South Sudanese civil society organisations. The AU stressed that South Sudan’s stability depends on peaceful and inclusive dialogue with all stakeholders, warning that delays in addressing these issues could undermine the country’s fragile peace.
