Ugandan political delegation visits Sudan

November 13, 2016 (KHARTOUM) -Sudan’s ruling National Congress Party (NCP) announced the arrival on Sunday of a delegation from Uganda’s ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) to discuss joint cooperation and bilateral relations

In press statements, the chairwoman of NCP’s Foreign Affairs Sector Amira al-Fadil said that the visit considered as a start of partisan relations between the two countries and to complete the official efforts between Kampala and Khartoum.

She added that the visit of the Ugandan delegation came at the invitation of the Deputy Chairman of the NCP for party’s affairs, Ibrahim Mahmoud. The talks aim to foster ties between the two political groups and to exchange view on regional and global issues of shared concern.

Al-Fadil further explained that the visiting delegation headed by NRM Secretary General Justine Kasule, , would meet during its four-day visit with NCP youth and woman secretariat, the economic sector and General Secretariat of the Council of the African Political Parties.

Ugandan officials accused Sudan of supporting the Lord Resistance Army (LRA) rebels and harbouring their leader Joseph Kony even after the secession of South Sudan. While, Khartoum accused Museveni’s government of supporting rebel groups from Darfur, Blue Nile and South Kordofan.

The Year 2016, witnessed a steady rapprochement between the two countries, accelerated, by the South Sudanese crisis and their joint efforts to end the three-crisis in the neighbouring nation.

The visit of President Museveni to Khartoum last October to take part in the closing conference of the government-led national dialogue is seen as a turning point in the relationship between the two countries.

Last September, the Ugandan government facilitated informal talks between the Sudanese government and armed groups in Darfur and Sudan’s Blue Nile and South Kordofan areas, in a bid to support the African Union High Implementation Panel (AUHIP) efforts to bring peace in the east African country.

Last October, Museveni met with Minni Arko Minnawi the leader of a Sudan Liberation Movement faction and the Leader of Sudan’s Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), Jibril Ibrahim to convince them to join the national dialogue process.

(ST)