Uganda Army Celebrations

The Ugandan army says it will only withdraw from South Sudan if the African Union deploys an alternative force that can ensure there is peace and security in the country.

The spokesperson of the Ugandan People’s Defense Forces said their forces entered South Sudan on the 23^rd of December after the government of South Sudan invited them, he said, “to restore peace”.

The SPLM/SPLA –in Opposition led by Dr. Riek Machar and some IGAD member states have been calling for the withdrawal of the UPDF from South Sudan in order, they say, to allow the peace talks in Addis Ababa to succeed.

The European Union and some western countries including the United States and Norway say the involvement of Ugandan forces in the conflict is playing a negative role in resolving the two-month crisis.

In an exclusive interview with Eye Radio from Kampala, the spokesman of the UPDF, Lieutenant Colonel Paddy Ankunda, said Ugandan forces will gradually pull out of South Sudan when security and stability returns.

“The drawdown of the UPDF will occur when there is an African Union capacity that has been deployed to respond to the crisis, and that is the plan. This could be an IGAD force which is proposed,” said Lt. Col Ankunda.

“But we’ll not simply draw-down and leave a gap, and create more chances for the resurgence of violence.”

Lt. Col Ankunda called on the AU to support the involvement of Ugandan forces in restoring peace in South Sudan.

He said the Ugandan government wants South Sudan to be stable socially and economically.

“South Sudanese people are our neighbors and we are more concerned when they are in trouble than anyone else so for anybody not to understand that, it betrays the course of autonomy and independence that South Sudan had started enjoying.”

Lieutenant Colonel Ankunda urged the region to support South Sudan so it can become a prosperous nation.