President Yoweri Museveni has returned to Uganda from South Sudan with hope for restoration of peace and normalcy in the country.
He arrived in the capital, Juba, for a working visit to South Sudan on Thursday. While there, he was briefed by President Salva Kiir Mayardit on the security situation in the country.
Kiir assured President Museveni of his commitment to implementing the revitalized peace agreement signed in 2018 that ended the fighting in that country.
In a statement issued by the Ugandan Presidential Press unit, Kiir said he doesn’t want the resumption of fighting in South Sudan.
For over two months now, South Sudan has been tilting towards a resumption of the civil war that started in 2013 when Kiir accused his former deputy, Dr Riek Machar, of fomenting a coup.
The resultant war UN estimates, caused the death of about 400,000 people and uprooted a million others from their homes.
On Friday, Museveni met with a delegation from the African Union’s Panel of the Wise, led by former Burundian President H.E. Domitien Ndayizeye.
“We discussed the current security situation in South Sudan and the African Union’s role in ensuring the peaceful implementation of the peace agreement,” wrote the President after returning to Uganda.
“Prior to this meeting”, he said, “I interacted with leaders of various political parties in South Sudan.”
At the start of last month, Uganda deployed its troops in Juba to enforce peace following rising of tensions since President Salva Kiir’s government detained two ministers and several senior military officials allied with First Vice President Riek Machar.
Machar has since been put under house arrest.
Uganda has been central in propping up the government of South Sudan.
After the civil war erupted in South Sudan in 2013, Uganda deployed its troops in Juba to bolster Kiir’s forces against Machar. They were eventually withdrawn in 2015.
Ugandan troops were again deployed in Juba in 2016 after fighting reignited between the two sides but they were also withdrawn.
Uganda fears a full-blown conflagration in its northern neighbour could send waves of refugees across the border and potentially create instability.