South Sudan’s First Vice President Riek Machar has accused Uganda of violating a United Nations arms embargo by deploying armoured and air force units to South Sudan, including conducting airstrikes. In a letter sent to the U.N., African Union, and IGAD regional bloc on March 23, Machar claimed Uganda’s military intervention breached a 2018 peace deal that ended South Sudan’s civil war.
Uganda, however, stated that its military presence was at the request of the South Sudanese government, following tensions between Machar and President Salva Kiir. In early March, South Sudanese security forces arrested several of Machar’s senior allies after clashes between the military and the White Army militia, which the government alleges Machar supports.
Machar’s SPLM-IO party denies any ties to the White Army, an ethnic Nuer militia that fought alongside Machar against Kiir’s Dinka forces during the 2013-2018 conflict. The U.N. has expressed concern that the resurgence of hate speech could reignite ethnic conflict.
Uganda is concerned that a full-scale war in South Sudan could destabilise the region and lead to an influx of refugees. Machar urged the international community to press Uganda to withdraw its forces, claiming that Ugandan forces are carrying out airstrikes on civilians.
Machar’s office confirmed the authenticity of the letter, but both Ugandan and South Sudanese military spokespeople have yet to comment on the potential arms embargo violation. On March 24, South Sudanese forces attacked SPLM-IO positions near Juba. Additionally, SPLM-IO officials reported that intelligence officers in Lakes State had arrested four of their members and closed their office in Rumbek.
Last week, Uganda’s parliament retrospectively approved the deployment, which was first announced on March 11. In a series of controversial posts on X, Uganda’s military chief Muhoozi Kainerugaba made inflammatory comments about the Nuer ethnic group and challenged Machar to meet with President Salva Kiir.
