Gen Muhoozi Signals Possible UPDF Withdrawal from DRC Over Friction with Ituri Governor

Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba

Uganda’s military chief said on Tuesday that troops deployed in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo could begin withdrawing within days, underscoring growing tensions between Ugandan forces and local authorities in the conflict-hit region.

General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, head of the Uganda People’s Defence Forces, said the army was ready to pull out from positions stretching from Lubero in North Kivu province to Mahagi in Ituri.

“We announce that we are ready to withdraw from all our positions from Lubero to Mahagi in Eastern DRC, in coordination with the DRC government,” Kainerugaba wrote on X.

He added that the withdrawal could begin imminently if political conditions in Ituri do not change.

“All UPDF troops will withdraw from Lubero in the next few days if the Governor of Ituri is not changed,” he said.

The comments come amid mounting friction between Ugandan forces and Ituri’s military governor, Lieutenant General Johnny Luboya Nkashama, who has imposed restrictions on UPDF movements, including barring access to key border points and insisting operations remain strictly within the framework of a joint mission.

Ugandan officials view the measures as undermining their operational effectiveness, while Kinshasa has continued to back Nkashama, signalling a broader effort to assert control over security operations and limit foreign military influence in the region.

The UPDF entered eastern Congo in 2021 under Operation Shujaa, a joint campaign with Congolese forces targeting the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an Islamist-linked group blamed for attacks in both countries.

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While the operation has scored some battlefield gains, violence has persisted, and tensions between partners have increasingly surfaced.

Nkashama, who has led Ituri under a state of siege since 2021, has also focused on pushing local militias into disarmament and reintegration programmes.

A Ugandan withdrawal could complicate efforts to contain the ADF and other armed groups, while exposing deeper geopolitical fault lines in eastern Congo, where multiple forces operate amid fragile coordination.

Neither the Congolese government nor its military had immediately responded to Kainerugaba’s remarks.