Budget
documents presented at the Ugandan government’s defense and internal affairs
committee indicates the Ugandan military (UPDF) will remain deployed in South
Sudan for at least another year.
The
information surfaced during committee hearings for the Defense budget, which
showed Ugandan taxpayers will have to pay an extra 16.2 billion Ugandan
shillings in the next financial year for the UPDF to stay in South Sudan.
However, the
original cost of the UPDF’s deployment to South Sudan was not disclosed in the
budget, which was heavily criticized by lawmakers.
Defense
Minister Crispus Kiyonga refused to disclose details of how much has been spent
since December 2013, saying it would jeopardize the mission.
Kiyonga was
appearing before MPs to defend his ministry’s 1.4 trillion Shilling budget for the
2015/16 fiscal year.
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| UPDF soldiers secure the Juba airport in January 2014 |
Meanwhile in
South Sudan It has emerged that the government in Juba has nearly doubled its
military spending since 2010, and now ranks as the region’s biggest spender.
A recent
report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) showed a
rise in South Sudan’s military spending to $1.08 billion US dollars last year,
from $982 million in 2013.
At the same
time the black market rate for South Sudanese Pounds (SSP) to US dollars (USD)
is 8.7 while the bank rate remains at 3.19.
The lack of
dollars is causing many business owners in South Sudan to shut down because
they can’t get access to the hard currency they need to maintain operations.
Complicating
matters further is the fact that suppliers in neighbouring countries, such as
Kenya and Uganda, are refusing to accept SSP as payment for goods and services.
It has also
been reported that the government in Juba has begun printing SSP, without any
reserves of USD, against which the printed SSP would need to be backed against in
order to prevent hyperinflation.
Uganda is
South Sudan’s largest trading partner.