By Hadiza Mohammed
South Sudan’s First Vice President, Riek Machar, has accused Uganda of violating a United Nations arms embargo by entering the country with armoured units and air force personnel, and conducting airstrikes.
In a letter to the UN, African Union, and the IGAD regional bloc, Machar claimed Uganda’s military intervention violated a 2018 peace deal that ended South Sudan’s brutal five-year civil war.
Uganda said it deployed troops in South Sudan earlier this month at the request of the South Sudanese government, following a breakdown in relations between Machar and President Salva Kiir.
In March, security forces arrested several of Machar’s senior allies after clashes between the military and the White Army militia in the country’s northeast, which the government accuses Machar of supporting.
While Machar’s SPLM-IO party denies ongoing ties with the White Army, the UN has warned that rising hate speech could push the country back into ethnic conflict.
Uganda has expressed concern about instability in South Sudan, fearing a full-blown conflict could lead to a refugee crisis.
In his March 23 letter, Machar condemned Uganda’s involvement in airstrikes against civilians and called for pressure on Uganda to withdraw its troops.
Uganda and South Sudan’s military spokespeople did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the potential embargo violation.
Uganda’s parliament, however, retrospectively approved the deployment, citing the need to prevent a security catastrophe in South Sudan.
Uganda’s Defence Minister Jacob Markson Oboth justified the intervention, while Uganda’s military chief Muhoozi Kainerugaba stirred controversy with inflammatory posts on social media, referring to Machar’s ethnic group and making provocative comments about President Kiir.(Reuters/NAN)
