Parliament endorses UPDF deployment in South Sudan

KAMPALA - Parliament has approved the deployment of Uganda People's Defence Force (UPDF) troops in South Sudan, a move seen as a buffer for President Salva Kiir following his recent shake-up of the country's top leadership.

Kiir has been president since South Sudan's independence in July 2011.
Last month, he fired two of his vice-presidents: including long-serving Dr James Wani Igga (economic cluster) and Hussein Abdelbagi (services cluster).

He also sacked spy chief Gen. Akec Tong Aleu in a move analysts said could spark military backlash.

'Peace enforcement'

Meanwhile, the decision by the Ugandan Parliament on Thursday (March 20) came almost a week after Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) Muhoozi Kainerugaba confirmed that Ugandan boots had touched down in Juba on a peace enforcement mission.

The same matter took centrestage during last week’s NRM Parliamentary caucus meeting with President Yoweri Museveni at State House, Entebbe, where it was agreed that a formal motion be tabled in Parliament in tandem with legal provisions.

Specifically, Article 210(d) of the Constitution and Section 39 of the UPDF Act spell out the terms of such an arrangement.

“It is settled under the law that under the UPDF Act, the President has the discretionary power to deploy our troops on peacekeeping and peace enforcement. Section 39(2) says deployment of troops for purposes of peacekeeping shall be done with the approval of Parliament," Government Chief Whip Dennis Hamson Obua told journalists last Friday.

"In our resolution, it is crystal clear that our deployment is not for peacekeeping. The deployment is peace enforcement."

Obua said that in such instances, the Speaker is mandated to summon Parliament for an emergency session within 21 days of deployment to ratify the decision.

“For purposes of peacekeeping, you need prior approval of Parliament. But for purposes of peace enforcement, which is the case of our recent deployment to South Sudan, you can deploy and then come for parliamentary approval retrospectively."

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Justification

While moving the motion on Thursday, defence and veteran affairs minister Jacob Oboth-Oboth defended the deployment, emphasizing its necessity in quelling civil unrest in Africa’s youngest nation.

“On March 10, 2025, in accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding on Defence Co-operation and Status of Forces Agreement, His Excellency Salva Kiir Mayardit, the President of the Republic of South Sudan, requested His Excellency Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, the President of the Republic of Uganda, for urgent military support in order to avert a potential security catastrophe in South Sudan,” said the defence minister.

The appeal for deployment followed renewed clashes in Nasir between South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF) troops and the Nuer militia, known as the White Army (Jiech Mabor).

This is not Uganda’s first intervention in South Sudan. 

In 2014 and 2016, during violent power struggles between Kiir and Dr Riek Machar, UPDF stepped in to stabilize the situation, preventing the imminent collapse of the incumbent regime.

It later withdrew after normalcy returned.

Kilak South MP Gilbert Olanya (FDC), whose constituency borders South Sudan, praised the government’s decision, calling it the right move to safeguard tranquility in northern Uganda and protect cross-border trade.

“Anyone who comes from the north, especially from Acholi and West Nile, would highly support the deployment of UPDF in South Sudan," he said.

After approving the motion, Parliament adjourned sine die, with no set date for reconvening.