Withdraw troops from South Sudan, US tells Uganda

KAMPALA- The Uganda army must leave South Sudan territory to stem genocide and allow citizens there enjoy a future of peace and prosperity they voted for, two top US government officials have said.

Secretary of State John Kerry and President Obama’s new top diplomat for Africa, Ms Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said the cessation of hostilities agreement signed between the Government of South Sudan and renegade Riek Machar forces also requires foreign troops to pull back to defensive positions.

“We feel deeply committed, given past lessons, to try to prevent the chaos and the genocide that too often comes [out] of the violence that can occur if things break down,” Mr Kerry told journalists during a virtual press conference on Tuesday. “We don’t want this to cascade into a more violent repetition of the past. So, that’s why we’re committed.”

The fighting between soldiers loyal to President Salva Kiir and his former deputy Riek Machar broke out on December 15. Uganda sent it’s troops several days later to fight alongside forces loyal to President Kiir.
An estimated 8,000 people are said to have been killed and thousands displaced from their homes since December 15.

Ugandan officials, in response to Washington’s initial February 8 call for withdrawal of foreign forces, insisted the UPDF were invited by President Kiir and would stay put on South Sudan soil, but that position seems under consideration.

“The government of Uganda will, through appropriate channels and particularly the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, prepare a response to the US call [for UPDF withdrawal],” said military spokesman Lt Col Paddy Ankunda, declining further comment.

Withdrawal of Ugandan troops, the only foreign force that raced to prop up Kiir’s faltering government, is one of pre-conditions set by Machar’s group at the ongoing IGAD-brokered talks in Addis Ababa. Ethiopia has joined Norway in publicly asking the UPDF to leave.

Both Ms Thomas-Greenfield and Secretary Kerry said they will remain deeply involved in issues of South Sudan because the US government under various administrations invested heavily to secure its independence from Sudan.

Intra-SPLA clashes snowballed into countrywide violence in December, last year, claiming thousands of lives, according to the UN. President Kiir accused Machar of attempting a coup, but the former vice president denied the charges.
On Tuesday, Ms Thomas-Greenfield flagged democracy and good governance, LRA and other conflicts, gay rights and possible extension of AGOA – a legislation granting selected African countries tariff and quota-free exports to the US as priorities in US engagement with Africa.
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