South Sudan’s armed opposition (SPLM/A-IO) under Riek Machar has accused Uganda and Egypt of secretly colluding to keep President Salva Kiir in power.
According to media reports, South Sudan rebel intelligence sources in Kampala and Juba said Uganda has been secretly coordinating the negotiations between South Sudan and Egypt, and that Uganda President Yoweri Museveni ‘has brokered a “dirty deal” which would allow Kiir to receive lethal weapons and ammunition from Egypt to wage a full-scale war against the armed opposition’.
The accusations, reportedly made by an SPLM-IO official in the Ethiopian capital, come in the wake of South Sudan President Salva Kiir visiting Cairo on Monday, for talks with his Egyptian counterpart President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. According to reports, El-Sisi visited Uganda on December 18, 2016.
“There is a dirty deal going between Kiir and El-Sisi,” the source said, adding that “the issue of Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam is one of the main deals being finalized in Cairo,” the SPLM-IO source said.
The source added: “Our intelligence sources in Kampala and Juba confirmed that Egypt wants South Sudan and Uganda to be her regional allies so that she can advance its covert sabotage campaign against the Ethiopian Dam. The man [Kiir] is a double agent; he will cause many problems for the entire East Africa region.”
But contacted, President Museveni’s Senior Press Secretary Innocent Don Wanyama said the dam in question is already under construction and that Uganda’s position on the River Nile is clear: all countries deserve an equal share.
Speaking about allegations of destabilizing the SPLM-IO, Mr Wanyama rubbished the claims, saying: Machar is isolated and is possibly seeking for sympathy from Ethiopia.”
Meanwhile, one of the SPLM/A-IO leaders in Cairo reportedly told the media that some areas in Cairo where South Sudanese live have witnessed increased police activities in recent days.
The source further stated that Kiir and El-Sisi three-day meeting is all about Egypt’s interests in East Africa, military deal though Uganda, and ways to maintain peace in South Sudan in case if the current Transitional Government of National Unity collapses.
The source went further, saying Kiir asked El-Sisi to help strengthen relations between Khartoum and Juba so that he could further isolate South Sudanese rebel leader Dr. Machar.
Egypt announced that Kiir is set to meet with El-Sisi to discuss bilateral relations and issues related to the Nile Basin.
