South Sudan's Salva Kiir in Entebbe for talks with Museveni

The Juba team in Entebbe included three ministers: Barnaba Marial Benjamin, the Minister of Presidential Affairs, Dr. Martin Elia Lomuro, the Minister of Cabinet Affairs, and Dr. James Pitia Morgan, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. (All Photos by PPU)

Salva Kiir, the President of South Sudan on Thursday held private talks with President Yoweri Museveni at State House, Entebbe.

The two leaders discussed issues of mutual interest between the two countries and border security, according to a release from Museveni’s press team.

Details of the meeting were not availed to the press.

The Juba team in Entebbe included three ministers: Barnaba Marial Benjamin, the Minister of Presidential Affairs, Dr. Martin Elia Lomuro, the Minister of Cabinet Affairs, and Dr. James Pitia Morgan, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. 

Henry Okello Oryem, the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, and the Director General, External Security Organization (ESO), Ambassador Joseph Ocwet also attended the talks.

Earlier in the day, the Juba government announced that the conversation between the two leaders will center on regional peace and security.

“The two leaders will also discuss regional peace and security, particularly the crisis in Sudan and the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo,” reads a statement from Kiir’s office.

South Sudan’s presidential Affairs minister, Barnaba Marial Benjamin told the local media that said the two leaders will also explore the peace deal that ended the civil war in South Sudan.

Museveni is a co-guarantor of the 2018 peace deal signed by Kiir and Riek Machar to resolve political differences that resulted in a civil war that has ravaged the country.

Machar, leader of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO) is also South Sudan’s First Vice President.

In November 2019, Museveni convened a meeting in Kampala where he hosted the Kiir and Machar for talks aimed at pacifying South Sudan. 

At the meeting, Museveni implored the warring factions to spend more time exploring ways to rebuild South Sudan instead of resolving political differences.

The two leaders discussed issues of mutual interest between the two countries and border security, according to a release from Museveni’s press team.

The two leaders have been accused of failure to implement the revitalized peace accord.

In July 2022 Kiir and Machar agreed to fast-track the implementation of the peace agreement based on a roadmap prepared to help guide the process.

An estimated 450,000 people were killed and over 2 million displaced during the war in South Sudan. More than a million of these refugees crossed into Uganda.  

The South Sudan refugees and asylum seekers in Uganda are accommodated at multiple resettlements set up in the West Nile and Northern Uganda sub-regions. 

One of the facilities, Bidibidi refugee settlement, is home to over 224,000 refugees from South Sudan, making it one of the world's largest refugee settlements.