Uganda has started pulling out its troops from South Sudan.
This has been announced by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ambassador James Mugume during a news conference held at the Uganda Media Center.
This was a key rebel demand during drawn-out talks which led to a peace deal in August and all foreign forces were meant to have left by 10 October.
Ambassador Mugume says they are contented that the forces were helpful in facilitating the peace process in South Sudan.
Meanwhile the Chief of Defence Forces Gen Katumba Wamala says the last batch of troops will leave by 1st November 2015.
This however comes as a rebel leader says the deal is unlikely to work because he may take up arms again.
Gen Johnson Oloni says he might resume fighting because of President Salva Kiir’s recent decree creating 18 new states.
This however comes as a rebel leader says the deal is unlikely to work because he may take up arms again.
Gen Johnson Oloni says he might resume fighting because of President Salva Kiir’s recent decree creating 18 new states.
The SPLA also said last moth that Ugandan troops will not withdraw until the SPLM in Opposition signs minutes of a security workshop held in Addis Ababa in September.
A neutral regional force is now meant to step in but it is not clear when that will happen.
Former rebel leader Salva Kiir became president of South Sudan, the world’s newest state, when it gained independence in 2011
Two years later, in December 2013, a conflict erupted after President Salva Kiir accused Riek Machar, his sacked deputy, of plotting a coup.
Tens of thousands of people have died since the civil war began in 2013.
Story By Herbert Zziwa
