Uganda Deploys Special Forces to South Sudan Amid Political Tensions

By Ollus Ndomu

Uganda has deployed special forces troops to South Sudan to bolster the fragile government of President Salva Kiir as tensions with his deputy, Riek Machar, threaten to plunge the country back into civil war.

The move comes as Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, a key guarantor of South Sudan’s peace process, seeks to stabilize the delicate power-sharing arrangement between Kiir and Machar. The two leaders have had a long-standing rivalry, and their uneasy unity government remains at risk of collapse.

South Sudan, an oil-rich nation that gained independence from Sudan in 2011, has been marred by political instability and violence. A brutal civil war between forces loyal to Kiir and Machar erupted in 2013, resulting in hundreds of thousands of deaths and displacing millions before a 2018 peace agreement led to the current power-sharing deal.

Museveni, a close ally of Kiir, has previously intervened militarily in South Sudan to keep his government in power. The latest troop deployment highlights growing regional concerns over the country’s fragile stability and the potential for renewed conflict.

Neither the Ugandan nor South Sudanese governments have publicly disclosed details of the mission, but the move signals rising tensions in the region as international efforts to maintain peace continue.