President Salva Kiir Mayardit has congratulated Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on his re-election in the January 14 general election, terming the move a show of trust in the National Resistance Movement leadership.

‘‘On behalf of the people of the Republic of South Sudan, allow me to congratulate you on your re-election as the President of Uganda. Your election victory is a testament of trust that the National Resistance Movement (NRM) has earned from Ugandans.

It is a sign of their appreciation of the efforts you have made towards developing Uganda in the past 34 years,’’ the President said in a statement sent to newsrooms on Monday evening.

He said the re-election of President Museveni would offer another opportunity to foster bilateral relations between the two countries and continue maintaining peace in the youngest nation.

He stated: ‘‘Under your leadership, Uganda has remained a key regional partner both in economic and peace support in the region. The people of South Sudan are particularly grateful for your contribution to restoration of peace in our country by Uganda’s position as one of our peace guarantors.’’

The congratulatory statement by the head of state comes a day after his Kenyan counterpart Uhuru Kenyatta also lauded Museveni’s victory as a testimony of trust in his leadership by his compatriots.

‘Fake news debate’

But Kenyan Statehouse team pulled down the post of Twitter after Facebook had flagged as containing fake news elements. This development sent Kenyans on Twitter into a meltdown as they praised the tech giant for flagging the tweet. But moments later, a Kenyan fact-checker, PesaCheck debunked the incident and concluded that the post was flagged on grounds that the picture attached to it had already been used in another post that had been earmarked as fake news.

President Museveni was formally announced as the mouthwatering 2021 presidential race that saw the country register a meagre voter turnout.

Museveni garnered slightly in excess of 5 million votes as his closest challenger Robert Kyagulanyi (Bobi Wine) came second with 3.4 million votes. Wine however disowned the results citing massive voter rigging.