Uganda’s Parliament approved a plan to deploy troops to South Sudan

(Samir Bol/Reuters)

Uganda’s Parliament approved a plan to deploy troops to South Sudan as a power struggle escalates.

The tensions are related to a breakdown of the coalition formed between South Sudan President Salva Kiir and Riek Machar, a former rebel leader-turned-deputy president. Machar’s party last week withdrew from talks towards brokering peace.

Uganda’s Defense Minister Jacob Oboth made the case for the deployment to lawmakers on Mar. 20, saying that Kiir had requested Uganda’s help 10 days earlier to deal with growing unrest in the country. It is needed to “avert a potential security catastrophe in South Sudan,” he said.

The World Bank said this month it expects South Sudan’s economy to contract by 30% in the 2024-25 financial year because of the disruption to oil production, which cost the country around $7 million per day in lost export revenues. Fears of a new conflict in South Sudan, following a civil war from 2013 to 2020, have led to some diplomatic evacuations.

Source: https://www.semafor.com/article/03/24/2025/uganda-to-send-troops-to-south-sudan