By Our Reporter
NATIONAL
President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni and Commander in – Chief of the Armed Forces has thrown light on the intentions of UPDF’s deployment in Bunia located in Eastern Congo.
Museveni’s lengthy explanation dated Friday 21st February, 2025 was prompted by a story aired on Al-Jazeera TV Wednesday, 19th February alleging that UPDF had deployed in the Eastern Congo to help the Congo government fight the M-23 rebels.
The President emphatically denies this saying the UPDF is in Bunia for two strategic reasons.
The first being to fight the ADF alongside the Congolese Army something that has been ongoing for the last four years since DRC President Tshisekedi permitted them to deploy in DRC to fight ADF.
He says the other task is to protect the jointly funded Kasindi- Beni-Butembo Road.
FULL STATEMENT
However, on this occasion, I need to clarify one misinformation I saw on Al-Jazeera TV, the other night. There was an item that said that Uganda had deployed troops in Eastern Congo to help the Congo government fight the M-23 rebels. This is not true.
About 4 years ago, the government of H.E Tshisekedi, at long last, listened to our requests of allowing us to help the Congo Army fight the ADF terrorists that had been killing Congolese and Ugandans with impunity, using Congolese territory, for the previous 20 plus years, ever since 2002.
We were very happy for H.E Tshisekedi to do this and it has helped the Congolese Citizens in the area, they have gone back to their villages and the Ugandans are no longer being killed.
You remember the 7 sheikhs killed, Gen. Katumba’s daughter, Joan Kagezi, etc.? That was the main mission our troops went to Congo for.
Along the way, two new tasks were added: protecting the jointly funded Kasindi- Beni-Butembo Road and being part of the East African Force that had successfully separated the M-23 fighters that were East of the Bunagana-Goma Road and the Congo government troops that were, mainly, West of that road in some sections.
The Congo government, however, expelled the East African Force saying that they were not helping them to fight the M-23 fighters which was never part of the mission of that force.
The East African Force was neutral in that matter of the fighting between the Congo Army and the M-23.
With the mandate of the East African Force cancelled by the Congo government, the UPDF remained with the two tasks: to fight the ADF alongside the Congo Army and to protect the Construction of the Kasindi-Beni-Butembo Road.
With the deteriorating security situation in Eastern Congo, we secured the permission of the Congo government to deploy in Lubero, near Butembo and Bunia, to the North of our operational area.
Our presence in Congo, therefore, has nothing to do with fighting the M-23 rebels. Right from the beginning, our advice to the involved parties in the Congo government-M-23 conflict, was negotiations.
The history of that conflict is well known and the solutions are there. The regional conferences of EAC and SADC have guided on this. Those are the facts.
Signed:
Yoweri K. Museveni
President of the Republic of Uganda
