...Goes to show that the American CIA is one of the players behind this restructuring of the UPDF!
MK
Army may retire several generals
By David Kibirige & Alex B. Atuhaire
Dec 25, 2003
KAMPALA - The military is poised to restructure its command in a move to streamline its operations, and also help end the Joseph Kony-led rebel insurgency.
The Cabinet proposed the top-to-bottom changes outlined in the new structure. The proposed changes are a result of the defence review exercise that also studied military structures in Britain, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Tanzania.
The new structure was recommended basing on the security needs of Uganda, said Col. Robert Rusoke, the director general of the Defence Review Unit that has been thinking through the restructuring.
Lt. Col. Rick Ortch, the American Embassy defence advisor, told The Monitor on December 12 that the restructuring would give more capacity to the Ugandan military.
Minister of Defence (left), Mr. Amama Mbabazi and Minister of state for defense Ms. Ruth Nankabirwa
The proposed structure is contained in the Uganda Peoples Defence Forces Bill, which Defence minister Amama Mbabazi tabled in Parliament two weeks ago. The Bill seeks to give a new look to the military.
Parliament's committee on Defence and Internal Affairs is studying the Bill.
The proposed law scraps the position of army commander, who has been the number one officer in the military.
The top position in the military will now be that of Chief of Defence Forces (CDF).
Rusoke said the CDF shall be in charge of the command, control and administration of the military.
The deputy CDF would mainly be in charge of the reserve forces, he said.
The military will also have a chief of staff (COS), who will be number three.
Headquarters move
The army headquarters will also move from Bombo in Luwero district to Mbuya in Kampala, the Bill says.
Rusoke told The Monitor from his office in Kololo on December 17 that the CDF, DCDF and COS would sit at Mbuya and will be in charge of policy, planning, procurement and administration.
The President will remain commander-in-chief and the overall authority on matters military.
Rusoke said that the commander of the land forces will sit at the unit headquarters at Bombo while that of the air forces would sit at Entebbe.
Each will direct field command and control.
He said the officer in charge of the land forces would be the army commander who would take the number four place in the new military hierarchy.
The minister of Defence, his or her deputy and the permanent secretary will also sit at Mbuya.
The marine unit will be scrapped and the Uganda Police Force will takeover monitoring the waters.
Currently, the army has marine units at Luzira and Entebbe on Lake Victoria.
The Defence Review Unit winds up its work in March 2004 having started out in June 2002.
Generals relegated
Information available to The Monitor indicates that several officers and men over the age of 50 will be relocated to the reserve forces to pave way for younger officers to take active command and administration of the new-look military.
The older officers (among them generals) and men will spend three years in the reserve forces. Whoever will not have been called back into the regular forces within the three years will then be discharged from the military.
Recently, Lt. Gen. Museveni wrote to the Army Promotions and Commissions Board seeking permission to quit the military.
A senior army officer said there are several generals who are paid lots of money yet they are not active.
The army has six lieutenant generals: Museveni, Moses Ali, David Tinyefuza, Elly Tumwine, Jeje Odongo and Salim Saleh.
Of these, only Tinyefuza is considered active. Tumwine now chairs the general court martial.
Saleh is the commander of the reserve force but he is assigned special duties occasionally by the President.
Some of these generals will be retired outright if the army can afford it. A general's retirement package is quite hefty.
A military analyst said each of the generals could retire with about Shs 500 million with gratuity inclusive.
If retired, the generals' earnings will be used to improve the welfare of the men and women of the UPDF.
For instance, an army captain earns about Shs 300,000 yet some inactive brigadiers and colonels get more than Shs 1.5 million in addition to entitlement to eight escorts and fuel.
"The morale of soldiers will be improved and we hope this will help end the insurgencies," a general who preferred anonymity said.
The army spokesman, Maj. Shaban Bantariza, told The Monitor last week that the new structure would reduce the UPDF current numbers and make it an efficient force.
"We want to make a force which is not top-heavy," he said. "This means that we won't have more officers than necessary in the same department which sometimes is the case in some departments today."
Bantariza could not confirm whether the generals are headed for retirement.
He said, however, that though "some [generals]" may wish to retire, there may not be enough money to send them home.
"I am sure they [generals] should [be retired]. If public service says 'here is the money', then the exercise can be carried out so long as they are allowed to retire," Bantariza said.
� 2003 The Monitor Publications
