the general who outgrew uganda

as south sudan descends into conflict, uganda's shadow grows longer, revealing the quiet ambitions of a regional strongman.

On May 3, airstrikes hit Old Fangak, a remote town in South Sudan’s Upper Nile state. The only hospital in the area, run by Médecins Sans Frontières, was destroyed, killing at least seven and wounding over twenty. The United Nations called it deliberate. The munitions were incendiary. There was no mistaking what this strike was meant to do.

MSF staff and local responders attempt to contain a blaze at Old Fangak hospital in South Sudan after an airstrike. The attack, attributed to South Sudanese government forces, destroyed the only medical facility in the area. Uganda, a key military ally of the SSPDF, has backed President Salva Kiir’s government but has not been directly implicated in the strike.

Ugandan troops took part in the offensive. But their role wasn’t just tactical, it was political. They came not to stabilize, but to decide who would.

What’s unfolding in South Sudan isn’t a one-off. It’s the purest expression of a strategy President Yoweri Museveni has refined over decades: project force abroad to insulate power at home. Present Uganda as a regional problem-solver, while eroding democratic checks and tightening control over dissent. The contradiction isn’t new. What’s new is how blatant it has become.

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the south sudan playbook

This is not the first time Uganda has intervened in South Sudan. In 2013, it deployed thousands of troops to prop up President Salva Kiir at the outbreak of civil war, helping repel rebel advances on Juba. That intervention marked a turning point in Uganda’s regional posture, revealing Museveni’s willingness to enforce political outcomes beyond his borders. All without multilateral cover or an international mandate. What’s happening now didn’t break precedent. It followed it, just more openly.

Ugandan soldiers ride in convoy trucks during a 2016 military deployment to South Sudan. The operation was part of Uganda’s ongoing support for President Salva Kiir’s government during periods of heightened conflict with opposition forces.