By Andrew Irumba
Kampala: The Uganda Peoples Defence Forces (UPDF) are in final preparations of recruiting about thirteen thousand (13,000) Local Defence Unit (LDUs) personnel so as to boost security in various parts of the country ahead of 2021 general elections.
The revelation was made Thursday morning by Deputy Army and Defence Spokesperson, Lt.Col.Deo Akiiki, who said the recruitment exercise will resume in a week’s time. However, he declined divulging into details of the exact numbers being targeted. But a press statement released Thursday morning by the UPDF Land Forces publicist Lt. Col. Henry Obbo from the Public Information Office, confirmed the recruitment.
The UPDF statement reads in part thus; “The Uganda People’s Defence Forces intends to conduct a subsequent recruitment exercise of 13,000 LDUs from selected districts in Central, Eastern, Northern and Mid-Western Uganda. The exercise will run from 15-31 July 2019.”
The statement adds “The recruitment is aimed at enhancing the existing foundation security arrangement in the country to ensure the people and their property are secured at grass root levels.”
However, an insider in the UPDF revealed that the new recruits will be for upcountry urban areas majorly municipalities and town councils. The targeted areas for deployment include towns such as Masaka, Mbarara, Arua, Lira, Gulu, Mityana and Mubende. Fresh LDUs recruitment will start with headquarters of UPDF Divisions I, II, III, IV and V in Kakiri barracks, Mbarara, Mbale, Gulu and Pader respectively.
President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni ordered for the recruitment of 24,000 LDUs in September last year following the rampant gun violence, kidnap and robbery crimes. The order came after former Buyende District police commander, Muhammad Kirumira had been assassinated near his home in Bulenga, Wakiso District along Kampala-Mityana highway. UPDF in October conducted recruitment phases in which 6,400 LDU personnel were recruited. The recruitment took place in areas of Kamwokya, Kawempe, Makindye, Lubaga, Nakawa and Luzira.
UPDF sent the recruits to Oliver Tambo Military School in Kaweweta, Nakaseke District where they underwent a four-month basic military training. Museveni passed out the recruits in March this year but over 200 had escaped from training. In May, UPDF deployed 6000 LDUs in Kampala City, Wakiso and Mukono districts purposely to avert crime. However, their capacity to combat crime in several urban centres have been limited and criminal acts, especially armed robberies, have increased in the recent past.
