The Uganda People’s Defence Force (UPDF) have not withdrawn from South Sudan’s Jonglei State in spite of committing to do so when the Ugandan government signed as guarantor of the recent peace agreement between South Sudan’s warring parties last August.
The peace agreement signed by Riek Machar on 17 August and by Salva Kiir on 26 August mandates the completion of the withdrawal of all allied forces from the country, with the exception of Western Equatoria State, within 45 days of signing.
By that time frame, 45 days from 26 August would be 10 October.
A major Ugandan daily newspaper reported last month that the UPDF would finish the process of withdrawal by 10 October. However, a witness in Jonglei told Radio Tamazuj today that Ugandan soldiers are still present in the area.
Yesterday, the UN Security Council passed a resolution calling for the withdrawal of “armed groups and allied forces invited by either side, consistent with the Agreement.”
The resolution also mandated the UN Mission in South Sudan “to monitor and report on the withdrawal of all State and non-State security actors, allied to either Party in conflict, from the territory of South Sudan, with the exception of Western Equatoria State.”
UNMISS have not yet said anything publicly about the continuing presence of Ugandan army forces in Jonglei.
Photo: UPDF Gen. Katumba addressing soldiers in Bor, South Sudan, published by the major Ugandan newspaper Daily Monitor on 22 January 2014.