Aronda: We shall not attack S.Sudan
What you need to know:
Yumber District leaders want permission to register Ugandans in South Sudan.
Arua- The Minister of Internal Affairs, Gen Aronda Nyakairima, has said UPDF will not invade South Sudan over clashes that occurred between locals in Moyo and South Sudan nationals.
The general was meeting security officials and members involved in the National Information and Security systems in Arua on Sunday.
“We are not going to invade South Sudan over this matter, let us respect our common borders, we have a memorandum of understanding with the government of South Sudan and these issues can be resolved diplomatically,” gen Aronda said.
He was responding to a request by Yumbe resident district commissioner, Ibrahim Abiriga, to send registration kits into South Sudan to register more than 3000 Ugandans displaced from Kei forest reserve in Yumbe district.
“I have talked to my fellow commissioner of Kajokeji and he said if we are going to register Ugandans then there is no problem, we only need your permission,” Mr Abiriga said.
However, Gen Aronda said Uganda would not risk starting another conflict with a neighbour.
There is suspicion among the security personnel involved in the National ID registration exercise that Yumbe’s population targets may have been exaggerated because the district has remained at 50 per cent despite officials saying majority had been registered.
And on the registration exercise that was an area of focus also, the Regional Internal Security Officer, Maj. Francis Atiku, said: “Those districts which think they have done everything in the registration yet have failed to reach the acceptable levels should come up with scientific explanations.”
More than five people lost their lives when tension reached heights after Moyo district chairman Jimmy Vukuni and other district leaders were arrested by South Sudan police when they went to conduct census at Wano village, an area being contested between Uganda and South Sudan.
The incident has created anger and mistrust between the nationals of the two countries with South Sudanese traders in Moyo town now going back to their country arguing that they are no longer safe to live in Uganda.