Museveni urges ceasefire, dialogue as Sudan officials visit Uganda
President Yoweri Museveni (R) meets delegation from the Sudan Transitional Sovereignty Council led by the deputy chairperson Malik Agar (C) at state house Entebbe, Uganda on February 22, 2023. PHOTO | PPU
Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni on Wednesday held talks with visiting delegates from Sudan's Transitional Sovereignty Council in Kampala and appealed to the warring factions in the country to find means of ending the ongoing war and restore peace.
The Sudan Armed Forces (Saf), led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, have been fighting for the last 10 months, leading to more than 15,000 deaths and displacing about 10 million.
Speaking to a delegation from Gen Al-Burhan’s camp, led by the deputy chairperson of the Transitional Sovereignty Council Mr Malik Agar at state house Entebbe, President Museveni emphasised the need for all stakeholders in the war to come together and engage in a dialogue.
Museveni, according to the statement released by the State House Press Unit, informed Agar that the warring factions will get a solution if they come together because “once the problem is identified, it becomes easier to isolate it and bring about peace in the country”.
“President Museveni reiterated his message to the fighting forces in Sudan, urging them to cease fire, hold peaceful elections and grant power to the people to elect their own leaders,” read the statement.
According to the state house statement, Gen al-Burhan is also willing to take part in a proposed framework to resolve the crisis in Sudan.
“Malik informed President Museveni that Abdel Fattah al-Burhan is willing to participate in the peace process for Sudan as long as the conditions are favorable for the Sudanese people,” the statement read.
Gen al-Burhan camp’s visit to Uganda comes barely a month after Sudan snubbed attending the 42nd Extraordinary Summit of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (Igad) that was held in Kampala on January 18.
Sudan chose not to attend the summit citing Igad's invitation of RSF leader Gen Daglo and the bloc not being commmited to implementing the outcomes of the summit in Djibouti by meeting with the president of the Sovereign Council and the leader of the rebellion.
The meeting also comes about two months after Museveni met Gen Daglo in December last year where they discussed the ongoing war and how it can be ended.
During the December 13 meeting, Mr Museveni tasked Daglo to explain the genesis of the war, which he did.
Gen Dagalo said in a statement that, “I provided President Museveni with a detailed explanation about the reasons for the outbreak of the war, which was ignited by the remnants with the help of their leaders in the armed forces and the parties that obstruct the solution and support continuation of the war.”
