FDC tasks Museveni, Parliament to explain how Uganda will benefit from DRC deployment
Members of the Uganda Peoples' Defence Forces (UPDF) position themselves on the Ugandan side of the border town in Bunagana, Democratic Republic of Congo, while awaiting deployment on March 30, 2023. PHOTO / AFP
What you need to know:
- Although initially greeted with enthusiasm, many Congolese are increasingly critical of the EAC force because of dashed hopes that regional troops would take the fight directly to the M23.
- On Sunday, the spokesman for the newly deployed Ugandan contingent Captain Kato Ahmad Hassan said the troops will be "neutral force and we will not fight the M23".
- M23 fighters are expected to withdraw from the areas occupied by the Ugandan military under the plan, he said.
The opposition Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) has tasked President Museveni to explain how Uganda will benefit from the deployment of Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
A total of 5,000 UPDF soldiers led by Col Michael Walaka Hyeroba were last week flagged off for the mission in the troubled Rutshuru territory in North Kivu in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
President Museveni in a statement he issued a day after the deployment said UPDF would fight any player in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) who refuses to implement or adhere to the peace agreement the heads of the East African Community (EAC) leaders signed.
Addressing journalists at their offices in Najjanankumbi, the deputy spokesperson, Mr John Kikonyogo said that in Museveni statement, he (Museveni) indicated that the UPDF had gone to stabilize some parts of Congo, specifically Goma.
“The country needs to remember that Mr Museveni and some senior UPDF officers were taken to the International Court of Justice for allegedly stealing DRC’s resources between 1997 and 1998. Congo won the court case and the Court ruled that we pay Congo $325 million which is Shs1.1 trillion,” Mr Kikonyogo said.
He said over Shs90 billion were spent on Operation Shuja, an operation that was never sanctioned by Parliament and with no clear benefits, but only led to losses to Uganda hence leading to accumulated debts.
“We demand to hear from Parliament how Uganda benefits from these deployments in Congo, especially after the country annually spending taxpayers' money to deploy and maintain these illegal troops in Congo?,”Mr Kikonyongo said.
Uganda’s deployment comes a fortnight after Angola fielded 500 troops in the same area. Uganda’s troops will play an observatory role, but President Museveni revealed this past week that with the blessing of the EAC heads of State, Uganda would crack the whip “if one of the stakeholders refuses to implement the peace agreement we have agreed on.”
In his statement, Mr Museveni was quick to note that the UPDF’s presence in the Bunagana-Rutshuru area is not intended “to fight the M23, but act as a neutral force as the Congolese use the time to sort out their political problems.”
“Unless we are attacked, we aren’t there to fight,” President Museveni stressed.
Legislators in 2021 tasked the government to give a clear report about the military incursion by the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) into the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), saying Mr Museveni who has been in power since 1986 did not seek the approval of Parliament as mandated by the Constitution.
Deputy Speaker of Parliament Anita Among, who chaired plenary, said: “We need a statement on that and the government should really come out clean (on the matter).”
Although initially greeted with enthusiasm, many Congolese are increasingly critical of the EAC force because of dashed hopes that regional troops would take the fight directly to the M23.
On Sunday, the spokesman for the newly deployed Ugandan contingent Captain Kato Ahmad Hassan said the troops will be "neutral force and we will not fight the M23".
M23 fighters are expected to withdraw from the areas occupied by the Ugandan military under the plan, he said.
The rebel group remains in control of substantial areas of North Kivu, and has almost completely surrounded Goma, which has Rwanda to its east and Lake Kivu to its south.
The DRC accuses its smaller neighbour Rwanda of backing the M23, something the United States, several other Western countries and independent UN experts agree with, but which Kigali denies.
Although there has been no major fighting between the Congolese army and the M23 for several weeks, fighting has with rival militias and insecurity remains rampant.
Fourteen people were killed in separate attacks in North Kivu over the weekend, in circumstances that remain unclear, according to residents, local officials and medical sources.
