Save Lives, Not Face
Citing Uganda's failure to state how much more time it needed to accomplish its mission, President Omar al Bashir's government announced that the Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) were now in Sudan's territory illegally. By implication, the Sudanese wanted the UPDF to get out of their country.
The potentially explosive situation was only defused by a prompt visit to Kampala last week by a delegation of senior Sudanese defence officials, who seemed to have reached an understanding with Ugandan authorities. At the end of the meeting, Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni told parliament that Sudan had agreed to another extension.
While the Sudanese made every effort to address the situation using all available diplomatic channels, it was clear that President Museveni's government handled the situation in a most undiplomatic way.
While responding to the initial indications that Sudan would not renew the UPDF's stay, Museveni implied that he had the muscle to deal with the situation militarily.
Said Museveni: "The Sudanese, by stopping their support to Kony, are not doing me a favour. They should not have supported him in the first place. It is our right. They should not have sent armed people into our country."
While the president is right in saying that Sudan was not doing him a favour as a person, the more than half a million displaced people, the thousands kidnapped and the multitudes of traumatised children certainly consider the Sudanese gesture a positive one.
Ugandans should remember that Sudan is a sovereign state that reserves the right to choose who enters its territory, for how long and for what reason.
It is interesting to note that while the UPDF top brass made similarly arrogant pronouncements, the Sudanese seem to have refrained from making inflammatory statements and are only interested in safeguarding their territorial integrity.
Considering the human cost of the war in the north, it is in the best interest of Uganda to end the war. The country has lost a lot and stands to lose even more if an end to this conflict is not achieved. Uganda and Sudan together hold the key to peace in northern Uganda and southern Sudan.
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