President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has traveled to Juba, South Sudan, to engage with his counterpart, President Salva Kiir, on how to promote regional peace and security.
Museveni arrived in Juba and was welcomed by President Salva Kiir on Thursday, April 3rd, 2025, before heading for the closed-door meeting.
“I have arrived in South Sudan at the invitation of His Excellency Salva Kiir Mayardit. I look forward to our discussions aimed at strengthening bilateral relations and enhancing cooperation between our two nations,” President Museveni shared on his official X account.
President Museveni recently held a closed-door meeting with Rt. Hon. Raila Odinga, the President William Ruto’s special envoy for South Sudan, at State House, Entebbe.
The two leaders discussed critical matters regarding the current war between the forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and Vice President Dr. Riek Machar.
A power-sharing agreement between President Salva Kiir and first vice president Riek Machar has been threatened in recent weeks by clashes between their allied forces in the northeastern Upper Nile state.
South Sudan, the world’s youngest country, ended a five-year civil war in 2018 with a power-sharing agreement between Kiir and Machar.
President Kiir’s allies have accused Machar’s forces of fomenting unrest in Nasir County, in league with the White Army, a loose band of armed youths in the region from the same ethnic Nuer community as the vice president.
The White Army fought alongside Machar’s forces in the 2013-18 civil war that pitted them against predominantly ethnic Dinka troops loyal to Kiir.
Analysts have warned that the escalating tensions could lead to a full-blown conflict. “South Sudan is slipping rapidly toward full-blown war,” said the International Crisis Group’s Horn of Africa director, Alan Boswell.
The UN mission in South Sudan was established soon after the country won independence from Sudan in 2011. Almost 20,000 peacekeepers from 73 countries serve in it.
