Uganda’s army chief met Tuesday near Kampala with leaders of a militia from northeastern DR Congo following deadly clashes last month, the military said.
General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, a son of President Yoweri Museveni, “held a high-level meeting this morning in Entebbe with the leaders of the Lendu militia CODECO … a group that has repeatedly clashed with the Ugandan People’s Defence Forces,” said an army statement.
The militia is one of a patchwork of armed groups scrambling for dominance in the mineral-rich region.
Kainerugbaba “encouraged the CODECO leaders to ally with the UPDF to work together for peace and stability in Eastern Congo,” the statement said, hailing the meeting as “an important step in ongoing regional peace efforts.”
Uganda has maintained a low profile in the conflict shaking eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where the M23 armed group captured key cities in January and February. UN experts have said M23 is backed by Rwanda, though the Kigali government denies this.
Uganda has long had a military presence in the area and according to analysts is playing a complex game on its neighbour’s territory.
Since late 2021, Ugandan troops have backed DR Congo’s army against the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a rebel group of Ugandan origin linked to the Islamic State jihadist group.
Uganda’s forces in March launched an offensive against CODECO near Mahagi, a town about 50 kilometres (30 miles) from major oil reserves on its territory, and claimed to have killed hundreds of its fighters.
An army source who declined to be identified because of the sensitive nature of the talks, told AFP that Tuesday’s development was “not surprising”.
“This is a bait for the Allied Democratic Forces rebels that they can receive similar treatment if they stop fighting Uganda.” The source said Uganda also “wants to prove it’s presence in eastern DRC is not for war but peace and that General Muhoozi Kainerugaba can deliver that card.”