A team from the Peace and Security Council of the African Union together with the South Sudanese civil society groups have discussed the presence of Ugandan troops in the country, emphasizing the need for their withdrawal from Juba to ease political and security tensions.
The deployment of the Ugandan People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) has been controversial since when the troops marched into Juba in March 2025 during the renewed tensions between the South Sudanese President Salva Kiir Mayardit and his rival, First Vice President Riek Machar.
The UPDF operation, codenamed ‘Mlinzi Wa Kimya,’ which is the Swahili term for “Silent Guardian,’ has faced scrutiny over its scope, funding and the authenticity of its activities, termed illegal.
A youth group from Kiir’s home area recently claimed each Ugandan soldier in South Sudan is being paid USD 200 per day, an allegation neither Juba nor Kampala has confirmed or denied.
Uganda has long been a key security ally for Juba, sending troops in 2013 to back Salva Kiir during a brutal civil war against Riek Machar’s team.
The conflict reportedly killed an estimated 400,000 people before a fragile peace deal was reached in 2018.
It remains unclear whether South Sudan’s government will agree to withdraw the Ugandan forces, which were deployed to South Sudan at the request of President Salva Kiir.
Edmund Yakani, a civil society representative who attended the closed-door African Union (AU) meeting, revealed that the key outcomes included calls for an immediate de-escalation of violence between Kiir’s forces and Machar’s opposition group, as well as the UPDF’s withdrawal.
Yakani explained that civil society members also urged the swift appointment of a former African head of state as the African Union High-Level Representative to South Sudan (AUHLRSS) to help mediate lingering disputes under the 2018 peace agreement.
Other demands included an inclusive political dialogue on election conditions, the unconditional release of political detainees including the first vice president and a constitutional review process separate from elections.