QUESTIONING: Van Ardenne; EXPLAINING: Museveni

By Vision Reporter

President Yoweri Museveni has defended the deployment of the UPDF in South Sudan, saying they are there to stop the LRA fighters from crossing the Nile and linking up with their commanders in DR Congo.

Museveni explained this during a meeting with the Netherlands Minister for Development Cooperation, Agnes van Ardenne, in the corridors of the international conference on the Great Lakes Region in Nairobi.

The minister had earlier expressed concern that the presence of UPDF in Sudan would adversely affect the ongoing peace talks.

“What should UPDF do in South Sudan? Why aren’t they going back to their barracks? That is where they belong,” she stated on Miraya FM, a UN radio station in Juba.

Van Ardenne also said that the conflict in Northern Uganda had hampered development in the area.
Museveni explained that the UPDF was there to stop LRA rebels from joining LRA leader Joseph Kony in the DR Congo. “The soldiers are protecting River Nile to stop rebel influx into Congo,” he said.

He further assured her that a lot of development projects were going on in the North and that Teso and Lango sub-regions were peaceful. He said the biggest challenge was resettlement and rehabilitation.

Van Ardenne thanked Museveni for the on-going peace process.

She revealed that the Dutch government would contribute funds for the resettlement process and join the monitoring team, headed by the Prime Minister.

She also disclosed that her government would build a school for war-affected children.

Museveni returned from Nairobi last night.