The security situation in eastern Congo has deteriorated as M23 advances rapidly, taking more Congolese territory
President Miseveni has dismissed reports that the Ugandan military, the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) is in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to support the Congolese army repel Rwandan backed M23 rebels
In a social media post on Friday, Museveni said that Ugandan troops are deployed in Congo to fight the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) armed group that has conducted attacks inside Uganda’s territory.
“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,” Museveni posted on his X (formerly Twitter) account.
On Tuesday, the defense spokesperson, Felix Kulayigye said that UPDF would be deploying to the eastern Congolese town of Bunia.
The deployment of Ugandan troops to Bunia comes as the Congolese army faces a major challenge from rebel groups dominated by the M23, seeking to control the mineral-rich region.
Uganda already has thousands of troops in eastern DRC fighting the ADF under the Operation Shuja.
“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,” Museveni posted
The Congo government, however, expelled the East African Force saying that they were not helping them to fight the M23 fighters which are fully backed by the Rwandan government.
Museveni said that the East African Force could never fight the M23 because that was not 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.”
The security situation in eastern Congo has deteriorated as M23 advances rapidly, taking more Congolese territory.
The M23 is the most powerful of over 100 armed groups aiming to control eastern DRC, a mineral-rich region.
Three weeks ago, the armed group captured Goma, the biggest city and regional capital of Eastern Congo.
After Goma fell into M23 hands, the armed group announced move to capture the capital, Kinshasa which is over 2,000 kilometers away.
In his post on X, Museveni felt it necessary to reiterate: “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.”
