Uganda: Should Uganda Withdraw From South Sudan?

Kampala — As South Sudan's peace process stalls, questions are being raised about Uganda's military involvement, with some analysts saying it is impeding regional efforts to broker a peace deal.

Although the 23 January Cessation of Hostilities Agreement signed by both principals in the conflict, South Sudan President Salva Kiir and opposition leader Riek Machar, called for the phased withdrawal of all foreign troops in South Sudan, the Ugandan People's Defence Force (UPDF) has yet to do so.

"We continue to support the implementation of the 23 January Cessation of Hostilities agreement, which called for the withdrawal of all outside forces from South Sudan," Erin Rattazzi, acting spokesperson of the US Department of State's African Bureau, told IRIN.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has hinted that Uganda would withdraw troops once the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the regional body mediating between the warring parties, of which Uganda is a member, deploys its Protection and Deterrent Force. But it is unclear when the force will become operational.

Securing Juba

In December, Museveni sent in military personnel and aircraft to stop what it later called a possible genocide from happening in South Sudan. Parliament retroactively authorized the mission, which was originally intended to evacuate thousands of Ugandan businessmen living in South Sudan, and protect key government interests, such as the airport and State House.

However, the role of the army changed to one of preventing a massacre from happening in Juba.

Museveni averted "colossal loss of lives and property" in the capital and prevented the South Sudanese government from retaliating to the advance of the White Army, made up of predominantly Nuer youth militia by mobilizing their own "allied ethnic groups to wreak havoc" according to Abraman Awolich, a founder of the Juba-based Sudd Institute.

"Given what unfolded after the so-called White Army, in their tens of thousands, took control of Bor, had they managed to reach Juba, genocide would have occurred because they had the intent to kill, loot and destroy both public and private property," Awolich added.