Ugandan president warns S. Sudan rebels over power sharing demands
December 2, 2014 (KAMPALA) – A senior member of South Sudan’s rebel faction said Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni warned the group against demanding for a power-sharing agreement.
In a post on Facebook last week, the rebel faction’s head of diplomatic relation and information committee, Mabior Garang de Mabior, described the meeting as successful. He did elaborate further.
But a source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, claimed Museveni urged rebels to abandon their demands for executive powers to be granted to a prime minister and the removal of current vice president James Wani Igga.
According to the source, the Ugandan leader told the rebel delegations that creation of power-sharing arrangements with an elected government represented a “redline”.
The source confirmed to Sudan Tribune that the Uganda government had released funding for an ongoing conference in Unity state’s Fangak area to brief senior rebel commanders on a recent power-sharing proposal by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), which is mediating peace talks.
Museveni has been accused by anti-government forces of meddling in South Sudan’s affairs after it intervened militarily in the current conflict.
The Uganda People Defence Force (UPDF) has been fighting alongside South Sudan army (SPLA) to curb the country’s rebellion led by former vice-president Riek Machar.
Uganda initially claimed to be evacuating its citizens inside South Sudan, but later conceded it was providing support to government forces at the request of president Salva Kiir.
Rebels have been demanding the withdrawal of the UPDF in South Sudan, which is part of a ceasefire deal agreed during peace talks between the two warring parties.
IGAD has also criticised the presence of the Ugandan army in South Sudan.
However, the Ugandan government has disregarded calls from the international community to withdraw its troops amid fears it could regionalise the conflict.
Relations between Sudan and Uganda have also soured, with both sides trading accusations over providing rebel support.
Sudan has publicly accused Uganda of arming the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army-North (SPLA-N), with the South Sudanese government allegedly using the same groups to fight against opposition forces in Unity and Upper Nile states.
Another rebel source who spoke on condition of anonymity told Sudan Tribune that Sudan is preparing to launch a military offensive to back rebels in South Sudan if the UPDF fails to withdraw.
(ST)