KAMPALA: President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has vowed to again defeat the resurgence of insecurity in the Karamoja sub region and other areas.
President Yoweri Museveni spoke at the graduation of the fourth batch of 6,237 local defence personnel who had been trained for six months at the Oliver Tambo Military Training School in Kaweweta, Nakaseke district. He told Ugandans not to worry because these are just isolated incidents.
“The security situation in the country is good. There are a few little things that are easy to deal with, like the cattle rustling in Karamoja. Those will be dealt with. Then for the ADF in Congo, your colleagues are dealing with that, “said Museveni on Friday.
.Recently, the Uganda People’s Defence Force has been stepping up its operations in the Karamoja subregion to fight cattle rustlers who are now on the loose and killing people as they go.
In a press statement recently, the UPDF said it has so far killed more than 300 Karamojong warriors, captured many others, and recovered more than 100 guns.
Museveni also congratulated the new soldiers for completing the six-month training course. He said that they will serve as local defence personnel for a short time and then join the army because many of them are well-educated and know how to use modern weapons quickly.
The group comprises 168-degree holders, 318 diploma holders, and 1, 277 with certificates in various disciplines. The rest have the Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) and below. The President told the new recruits to keep their discipline and stay healthy at all times.
You should, therefore, not endanger your health with risky behaviours like drinking. Once you keep your health and follow the regulations of the army and train, the future is very bright for you, “Museveni noted.
Earlier, he commissioned water works to serve Kaweweta Recruits Training School, Fort Samora Machel Special Forces School, Oliver Reginald Tambo School of Leadership and the Pan-African Center of Excellence, all in the same vicinity. He also commissioned the new road network connecting all the institutions at Kaweweta. A total of 10 out of the 17km have already been tarmacked.
The President sounded a stern warning to all those encroaching on army land to vacate immediately after reports that officials at the training institute are finding challenges in widening the training ground due to encroachment. They should get out. Because I’m the one who told the army to come here because I was here fighting. I know the land myself, “said Museveni.
According to the Chief of Defense Forces (CDF), Gen. Wilson Mbasu Mbadi, the recruits should brace themselves for more training in the specialised units where they will be deployed for better results. “To the formations and the units that are taking these brand-new soldiers, make sure you continue to skill them and mission train them to enable them to become more proficient,” Mbadi said, adding that in all specialised formations, they have revamped the training schools.
The Camp Commandant, Brig. Gen. John Bosco Ruhesi, said the objective of the course was to train selected patriotic young Ugandan men and women and prepare them to be combat-worthy, disciplined, robust and progressive members of the defence forces, and this has been well achieved. “The course covered both military and ideological subjects that were mentally and physically demanding,” said Ruhesi.
He noted that the recruits received packages on different topics that included attitude change for socio-economic transformation, patriotism for socio-economic transformation, retirement sensitisation, gender equity in the UPDF, the importance of ideological training, and the role of the UPDF in the security of Uganda. The recruits demonstrated to the President their skills in self-defense, short-and long-range shooting, among others. They also swore an oath of allegiance to serve and defend the sovereignty of Uganda.