Sudan on Sunday strongly condemned Uganda for hosting Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, commander of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), calling it “a blatant disregard for the crimes of genocide.”
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni met with Dagalo at the presidential palace in Entebbe on Friday.
Hemetti was accompanied to Kampala by a high-level delegation including Abdel Aziz al-Hilu, deputy chairman of the Tasis Presidential Council and leader of the SPLM-N; Presidential Council member Taher Hajer; and Council member al-Hadi Idris. The delegation also included Prime Minister Mohamed Hassan al-Taishi and several ministers from the Tasis-aligned body.
Hemetti’s appearance in Uganda marks his first public international engagement since June 2025, when he last appeared in a video addressing RSF elements in a remote area of Darfur.
In a statement, Sudan’s Foreign Ministry described the reception as “an unprecedented step that contradicts Uganda’s commitments to good neighborliness, at a time when innocent lives are being lost.”
“Atrocities committed by the terrorist militia have been documented by the international community and condemned by regional organizations, including the African Union,” the ministry said.
The statement added that Uganda’s reception of Dagalo “disregards basic human values and ignores the scale of crimes committed against Sudanese citizens. It also violates laws governing relations between member states of regional and international organizations and constitutes support for rebel forces against a legitimate, internationally recognized government.”
While acknowledging Uganda’s right to maintain bilateral relations, Sudan said the move “reflects a new policy of the Ugandan government towards Sudan, supporting the rebels and acting against the unity, security, and safety of the Sudanese people.”
Sudan warned that it would not allow its territory—or that of neighboring countries—to be used to support rebel forces.
Dagalo’s visit to Uganda is his first public appearance since September, when he toured Nyala, the capital of South Darfur.
Sudan has been engulfed in conflict between the army and the RSF since April 2023, which has killed tens of thousands, displaced around 13 million people, and created one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, according to UN reports.
There was no immediate response from Uganda to the Sudanese statement.