No forces deployed along South Sudan border: Ugandan army

By Julius N. Uma

December 30, 2010 (GULU) — The Ugandan army has denied media reports that it had deployed forces along its borders with neighboring Southern Sudan, ahead of latter’s self-determination referendum due on January 09 next year.

Uganda’s Daily Monitor newspaper reported that Uganda’s Peoples Defense Forces (UPDF) had intensified its monitoring of the Uganda-Sudan border, saying the move was not a provocation, but aimed at protecting of the lives of Ugandan business people in Sudan and also secure Ugandan territory from foreign invasion.

Peter Mugisha, the army’s 4th division public relations officer, however rubbished these media reports, clarifying that the UPDF “has not deployed forces but just doing usual monitoring roles.”

“We are just monitoring the situation. In any case, we don’t really expect any form of violence [resulting from the referendum]. As you know, Monitor [Daily Monitor newspaper] always has ‘beef’ with us,” Mugisha told Sudan Tribune by phone from Uganda’s northern town of Gulu.

Mugisha however acknowledged the fact that any form of unrest in the semi-autonomous region could mean an influx of refugees into Ugandan territory.

Earlier on, Phillip Panyang Aguer, the spokesperson for Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) told Sudan Tribune that the army was unaware of reports concerning the deployment of Ugandan forces along the border.

“The Ugandan army could be beefing up its security in preparation of renewed LRA [Lords Resistance Army] attacks. I don’t think such a deployment has any connection with the referendum,” the SPLA spokesman said on phone.

He said the SPLA remains alert incase of any threats from Joseph Kony-led LRA, adding that the southern forces have been monitoring the rebels from its territory up to parts of Central African Republic (CAR).

The SPLA spokesperson said, “Our forces are ready for any form of counter-attack from the LRA or any other external forces.”

South Sudan is due to hold its referendum as a key part of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), the accord that ended over two-decades of a bloody civil war fought between north and south. An estimated nearly 2 million people, according to the UN, are believed to have died and close to 4 million displaced.

(ST)