Uganda to withdraw troops from Somalia as funding woes bite

Uganda’s military leadership has resolved to withdraw all Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) troops from Somalia within a year if key challenges, especially funding shortfalls, are not resolved.

The decision was taken at a February 24 meeting of the UPDF High Command at State House Entebbe, according to The Kampala Post  which cited a military source. The move marks a turning point in Kampala’s nearly 20-year engagement in Somalia’s peace efforts.

President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni chairs the High Command, which sets the army’s strategic priorities. Its members include Chief of Defence Forces General Muhoozi Kainerugaba and other top commanders.

The group’s decision follows growing concern in Uganda about the cost and strain of sustaining a long foreign deployment, especially amid funding gaps for the African Union mission in Somalia.

Uganda first deployed troops to Somalia in March 2007 under the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), which was mandated to help stabilise the war-torn country and train Somali forces.

Uganda’s contribution was vital in retaking key towns, including Mogadishu, from the al-Shabaab Islamist insurgency, and laid the foundation for successor missions such as the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) and its current form, the African Union Support and Stabilisation Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM).

Over the years, Ugandan troops have worked alongside counterparts from Burundi, Djibouti, Kenya, Ethiopia and others, helping to secure urban centres, protect federal institutions, and enable political processes.

Their efforts have also included training the Somali National Army and creating conditions for humanitarian access.

Somalia’s security landscape remains fragile, with al-Shabaab still capable of mounting deadly attacks in several regions.

African leaders have previously called for renewed support for the peacekeeping effort, even as funding and political disagreements undermine long-term stability efforts.

A full UPDF withdrawal would reshape the role of African peacekeepers in the Horn of Africa and leave Somali forces to take fuller responsibility for their own security.

For Uganda, the move reflects both the successes and the heavy cost of one of Africa’s longest international military engagements.