Your Job Is Simply to Represent Us in Parliament, Nothing Else - UPDF Tells Defence Minister Oboth

Amidst the growing pressure from Parliament and Defence minister Jacob Oboth-Oboth's confession that he was not aware of the deployment, Col Magezi said the decision was taken "in the interest of regional security".

The Military Assistant in charge of Public Relations to the Chief of Defence Forces (CDF), Colonel Chris Magezi, has defended the controversial deployment of the Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) in South Sudan without the knowledge or authority of the government.

Uganda on Monday deployed special forces to Juba, a decision that was made without the approval of Parliament while the South Sudan government also appeared to have been caught unawares.

South Sudan last week recessed into fresh crisis as troops loyal to First Vice-President Riek Machar reportedly clashed with the government forces and captured a garrison after killing its commander at the rank of a General.

Amidst the growing pressure from Parliament and Defence minister Jacob Oboth-Oboth's confession that he was not aware of the deployment, Col Magezi said the decision was taken "in the interest of regional security".

"The UPDF acted decisively on the request of the government of South Sudan to avert a dangerously developing situation and deployed forces accordingly," he said in response to media reports that quoted the defence minister's lack of prior knowledge of the matter.

Posting on X in the early hours of Tuesday morning, CDF Muhoozi Kainerugaba said Operation ‘Mlinzi wa Kimya’ had begun.

“UPDF Commandos arriving in Juba to support South Sudan People’s Defence Forces (SSPDF) in the current crisis," Gen Muhoozi said.

The revelation caught many unawares with South Sudan government denying the deployment while citizens appeared to capture images of UPDF trucks snaking through the streets of Juba.

Army spokesperson Felix Kulayigye would confirm the deployment, telling the media that the UPDF had deployed Juba to prevent the escalation and collapse of the delicate peace agreement.

However, under pressure from Parliament to explain the controversial deployment, Minister Oboth-Oboth denied knowledge of UPDF deployment in South Sudan, saying he had not participated in any meeting authorising such deployment.

“I am not aware of any formal communication that has been made. The deployment could not have happened when I was here, so I will have to verify and inform the House,” he told Parliament.

But Col Magezi has said the minister has no business in the decisions of the military.

"The Honourable Minister of Defence is never involved in the operational matters of UPDF. His job is simply to represent us in Parliament. Nothing else," he said.

On Tuesday, Kira Municipality MP Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda asked Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa to suspend the parliament until the government clarified why the army was deployed without parliamentary authorisation as required by law.

Ssemujju said the deployment of the national army was done casually while other legislators weighed in with criticism with the CDF's approach to such a serious national decision.

Erute South MP Jonathan Odur questioned if the government has lost control over the CDF, whom he said was making unilateral decisions.

“If it is true, it is a serious matter," Odur said.

"Let the government show us that they are actually working. This wouldn’t be something difficult for the minister to verify if there is a government running... unless they are saying they aren’t in control of this particular CDF, he can actually deploy without the knowledge of the government."

This is not the first time the UPDF has deployed outside of Uganda without Parliament’s approval.

In November 2021, the UPDF was deployed in eastern DR Congo under 'Operation Shuja' - a joint offensive with the Congolese national army against ADF rebels.

Days later, however, the Defence officials apologised when put to task over the matter - although the apology was more to do with the Shs89bn that the Defence ministry needed for the operation.

Clashes in Upper Nile state between government troops and the White Army militia, which had previously fought alongside Machar during the civil war that erupted in 2013 , has drawn South Sudan back into a political crisis.

President Salvar Kiir accuses Machar of orchestrating the conflict and directly implicated his love-hate deputy in the shootout against forces that had been dispatched to rescue a besieged general.

The 2013 conflict was only averted with the help of the Ugandan government. The UPDF was deployed in the restive youngest nation in Africa leading to a power-sharing agreement signed in 2018.

But this agreement appears to have run its course.