How NRA became UPDF

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The 1995 Constitution came with many changes within the legal landscape, and one of the prominent modifications was the transition of the army nomenclature from the National Resistance Army (NRA) to the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF).

During the Constituent Assembly (CA), the motion to change the name from NRA to UPDF was moved by the late Brig. Gen. Noble Mayombo.

In an interview with journalists at the time, Mayombo said his motion was anchored in the need to create a national, non-partisan and professional force that would be subordinate to the people.

Mayombo told journalist Bart Kakooza in 1994 that: “There has been two tendencies: A tendency that the army is a force raised and trained to simply obey orders like machines or like a group of robots. You look at armies like the King’s African Rifles or the Uganda Rifles. These were armies whose task was simply to obey the colonial authorities — even against the people of Uganda.”

He added: “There is a second tendency, which says that the army must be composed of conscious soldiers that, when tomorrow there is an unpopular and an anti-people leadership and it receives instructions to go against the people or the Constitution, the army must stand out and oppose orders, say of massacring the people, or overthrowing constitutions or turning against the Constitution. So, we felt that the name reflects, and strongly so, your mission. What is your mission? Our mission as NRA was to resist misrule in Uganda. We are now saying that a name like Uganda People’s Defence Forces reflects people’s defence as your mission, and the word ‘forces’ is to cater for your expansion of the army, in case tomorrow you want to build marines, infantry, navy, artillery, you do not have to change the name — so the word forces caters for that.”

It is against this background that CA delegates approved articles 208 and 209 of the Constitution, which created the UPDF and laid out its core functions, including preserving national sovereignty and territorial integrity of Uganda. The above articles also enjoin the UPDF to be non-partisan, national in character, professional and subordinate to civilian authority.

Vision Group’s Magazine

To commemorate the 30th anniversary of Uganda’s Constitution promulgation, Vision Group will, on October 7, publish a comprehensive magazine that highlights the milestones covered under the Constitution. When the National Resistance Army (NRA) overran Kampala under the leadership of President Yoweri Museveni, the journey to transit to constitutional rule started almost immediately with the issuance of Legal Notice No. 1 of 1986.

The legal notice that repealed the 1967 ‘pigeon hole’ Constitution effectively established the legal framework for the NRM Government, vesting legislative powers in the National Resistance Council and outlining the code of conduct for the NRA.

The Constituent Assembly, which comprised representatives elected by the people under the chairmanship of James Wapakhabulo on September 22, 1995, promulgated the Constitution, effectively replacing the one of 1967.

In the run-up to October 7, New Vision will publish highlight stories that showcase the country’s progress under the Constitution.