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West Budama Central MP Jacob Marksons Oboth-Oboth says he is extremely grateful to President Yoweri Museveni for promoting him to the full defence minister.

“I am grateful for the opportunity that has been given to me by the appointing authority. I don’t think it is a mean achievement on my part or a mean assignment. So, I am overwhelmed by the level of trust and confidence the appointment authority has put in me,” he told New Vision Online on Monday, March 25, 2024.

Oboth is among those who were promoted in a Cabinet mini-reshuffle and that of the army late Thursday (March 21) by the President, replacing veteran politician Vincent Ssempijja.

Ssempijja was designated as a senior presidential advisor alongside two other dropped state ministers — Harriet Ntabazi (trade, industry, and co-operatives) and Grace Kwiyucwiny (Northern Uganda) — and Lydia Wanyoto, the chairperson of the ruling party’s Women’s League.

Oboth, who is also a former chairperson of the legal and parliamentary affairs committee, has his work cut out for him.

“I will do what the minister of defence is supposed to do. I will try to execute the ministry’s mandate under Articles 208 and 209 of the Constitution and with God’s help and working as a team, we should have a deep sense of reflection on why the changes were made and establish the commander-in-chief’s intent and the mandate of the ministry,” he said.

Article 208(2) of the Constitution provides that the Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces (UPDF) shall be nonpartisan, national in character, patriotic, professional, disciplined, productive, and subordinate to the civilian authority as established under this Constitution.

Article 209 stipulates that the functions of UPDF, are to preserve and defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Uganda and to cooperate with civilian authority in emergencies in cases of natural disasters.

Other functions are; to foster harmony and understanding between the defence forces and civilians and to engage in productive activities for the development of Uganda.