Government has located 208 out of the 271 Ugandans stranded in Sudan and plans to evacuate them are underway, according to Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja.
For two weeks now, there has been fighting in Sudan within the country’s military leadership.
The clashes are between the regular army and a paramilitary force called the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Hundreds of people have so far been killed.
Many countries have been evacuating their nationals for the war-hit country.
Speaking on the floor of parliament on Tuesday, Nabbanja said that following a presidential directive, preparations have been made to evacuate Ugandans through the Sudanese border with Ethiopia.
“Government has hired six buses to accommodate all the Ugandans including diplomats, students, workers, those visiting, those who were in transit to Mecca to evacuate them through the Ethiopia route to the town of Gondar via the Gallabat border,” said Nabbanja.
She said that they had established that 120 people were working in Khartoum, 122 are students, 14 were in hospitals, 19 were in transit and six people were on a short visit.
Nabbanja added that six nationals who were said to be on their way back to Uganda are being tracked to ensure their security.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is in constant communication with three Ugandans who decided to use public road transport through South Sudan, two who used Port Sudan and one World Bank official who used the Ethiopian route,” she said.
Kiira Municipality Member of Parliament, Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda asked the government to not only focus on the evacuation plans but consider discussions on how to avoid a similar war.
“If this is not done, Uganda is a few years away from falling into what is happening in Sudan,” said Ssemujju.
