[Ugnet] UPDF to Lay Off 7,500 Soldiers

This is nothing other then a deliberately calculated move to purge the so called Army of undesireable elements like the wakina Tumukunde type. Will this latest move save the NRM from the now immenent doom?...Political observers Think Not. The Kaguta regime is simply blocking a square hole with a round plug!!

THE UPDF plans to lay off about 7,500 soldiers as part of the defence transformation programme, according to a government white paper on defence transformation. The exercise is likely to cost taxpayers over Shs5.4 trillion.

The white paper, which spells out the vision of government on its defence sector for the next 15 years beginning this year, says downsizing the UPDF from the current estimate of 55,000 soldiers to 47,548, a reduction of 7,452 personnel is an appropriate option considered to be the best for Uganda's immediate security requirements.

According to Defence Minister Amama Mbabazi in a foreword to the white paper, the document lays out the challenges of transforming the defence forces so that they can achieve their mission effectively. Army and defence spokesman, Lt. Col. Shaban Bantariza told Daily Monitor yesterday that the transformation will also take care of professionalising the force through an intensive training and modernisation programme which must tally with the military establishment.

"The new establishment, the transformation and modernisation are supposed to be immediate,"Bantariza said. He said the UPDF has already began implementing some of the recommendations like training of soldiers and moving towards adequate armament of the force. He said for example of an officer at the rank of Brigadier must have an office whose role is clearly spelt out.

Under the reduction exercise, the current five infantry divisions, are expected to be slashed to four and the rest of the force integrated into the remaining divisions.

In 1992, Uganda demobilised over 36,000 soldiers due to old age, medical reasons, voluntary retirement and non-citizenship in a bid to cut costs incurred by a huge army. But some of the retrenched soldiers were recalled to stem a raging insurgency in northern Uganda.

"Although the full strength of the reserves might be achieved within five years, there will be a need to review progress in this area as it develops so that the reserves are eventually seen as a professional adjunct to the regular force," the paper says.

It says the need to have the current auxiliary forces, especially in the northern and north-eastern Uganda where the UPDF have been battling the insurgents of the Lords Resistance Army (LRA) of Joseph Kony, may diminish.

"The Defence review assessed the cost of achieving the vision force and it was estimated at Shs5.4 trillion which is approximately 18 times the current defence budget. This cost would be incurred in transforming the defence forces from the current to the desired position," the paper says.

The defence expenditure stands at over 2.2% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), about US$170 million (about Shs312 billion) of the total national budget, although there has been a push by the government to have the military expenditure rise to contain the lingering insecurity in northern Uganda.

Given Uganda's current revenue collections, the cabinet noted that the level of spending necessary to achieve this vision is unlikely to be attained in the medium term.

The cabinet said the huge force is costly, and the financial pressure will be to reduce the size of the force to a point at which it is affordable and the level of risk is judged acceptable.

The white paper is part of the procedure President Museveni's government has used to improve the defence since it seized power in 1986. In 1998, Britain funded a Uganda Defence efficiency study, which discovered a lot of flaws within the sector.

The Defence Review, which assessed Uganda's defence key requirements in light of diverse current security threats over the next 10-15 years, was launched by the President in 2002 and it ended in March 2004.

The process, which involved the public, the academia and military experts, was managed by the defence Reform Unit of the Ministry of Defence, with assistance from the British government using a generic model by the British Defence Advisory Team.

During the national consultative process 134 potential threats to Uganda were identified ranging from border insecurity, destabilising external influences, political instability and the environment.

[Ugnet] UPDF to Lay Off 7,500 Soldiers

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