SOCICO urges Kinshasa to end the joint military agreement with Uganda, citing the UPDF’s failure to produce visible security results and raising suspicions about the true purpose of the deployment.
BUNIA — The Civil Society Coordination of Ituri Province (SOCICO) has issued a forceful call on the Congolese government to immediately terminate its joint military agreement with Uganda and secure the swift withdrawal of Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) troops from Congolese territory. The organisation gave the government a two-week ultimatum to act, warning of further pressure if no action is taken.
“We have not witnessed significant joint military actions between the UPDF and the FARDC.”— SOCICO Statement
In a strongly worded statement, SOCICO cited a glaring absence of tangible security improvements on the ground as the primary reason for its demands. The civil society body expressed deep frustration over what it described as the UPDF’s inaction against armed groups, including the notorious CODECO militia, a largely ethnically-based outfit that has terrorised communities across Ituri for years. Beyond the lack of results, SOCICO raised pointed questions about whether the deployment serves interests beyond those publicly stated.
A central complaint in SOCICO’s statement concerns the near-complete absence of visible joint military operations between Ugandan forces and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC). The organisation said it has seen little to no evidence of meaningful coordination between the two armies since the UPDF expanded its presence into Ituri, a development that raises serious concerns about the overall effectiveness and rationale of the bilateral arrangement.
The lack of coordination is particularly troubling given the deteriorating humanitarian situation across much of the province. Communities in Djugu, Irumu, and surrounding territories continue to face deadly attacks from multiple armed groups, even as foreign troops are stationed on Congolese soil. For many residents and civil society actors, the presence of the UPDF has offered neither reassurance nor safety.
According to multiple reports, Uganda has deployed approximately 5,000 troops across eastern DRC since early 2025, operating primarily under the framework of Operation Shujaa, a joint DRC-Uganda military initiative originally launched in late 2021 to combat the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a brutal Islamist insurgency with deep roots in western Uganda.
Ugandan authorities have indicated that the scope of Operation Shujaa has recently been expanded to include targeting the CODECO militia operating in Ituri province. However, SOCICO contests this characterisation, arguing that on-the-ground realities suggest otherwise. The group maintains that, whatever the official mandate, the practical results have fallen far short of what was promised to affected communities.
Perhaps the most sensitive element of SOCICO’s statement is its suggestion that the UPDF’s deployment may be serving interests that have not been disclosed to the Congolese public. While the organisation stopped short of specifying what those interests might be, the implication is significant: that economic, political, or strategic considerations beyond security cooperation may be motivating Uganda’s sustained military presence in Ituri.
Such suspicions are not entirely new. Ituri is among the most resource-rich territories in the DRC, endowed with gold deposits, fertile agricultural land, and significant mineral wealth. Critics of external military presences in eastern Congo have long argued that armed actors, whether foreign armies or non-state groups, have historically exploited their positions to access these resources. SOCICO’s language appears to tap into these long-standing anxieties.
The SOCICO statement comes at a particularly fraught moment for Ituri Province. While global attention has increasingly focused on the M23 rebellion and Rwandan involvement in North and South Kivu, Ituri has continued to experience its own cycles of deadly violence largely out of the international spotlight. CODECO and the ADF remain active threats, and intercommunal tensions, particularly between Hema and Lendu communities, have not fully abated.
For SOCICO and the communities it represents, the continued presence of Ugandan troops without demonstrable results is not a neutral fact; it is a failure of governance and a signal that the interests of ordinary Ituri residents are being deprioritised. The two-week ultimatum is, in this sense, as much a statement of political frustration as it is a demand for military action.
Government Yet to Respond
At the time of publication, neither the Congolese government in Kinshasa nor Ugandan authorities had issued a formal response to SOCICO’s demands. It remains to be seen whether the Congolese government will acknowledge the ultimatum, engage with civil society actors in Ituri, or allow the deadline to lapse without comment.
Kivu Post will continue to monitor developments and report on any response from Kinshasa, Kampala, or UPDF commanders on the ground. As the two-week window set by SOCICO begins, the pressure on all parties to account for the terms and outcomes of the joint military arrangement will only intensify.