UPDF Conned Of Bullets

The Uganda Peoples Defence Forces (UPDF) in Karamoja have unearthed a racket in which Karimojong local defence unit personnel (LDUs) operating alongside the army have been supplying fellow warriors with ammunition, reports Nathan Etengu.The Operations Commander of the 3rd Division, Lt. Col. John Baptist Mulindwa, said the warriors have been giving the ammunition to their kinsmen whenever they are deployed for an operation.“They would shoot one bullet in the air and retain others that they leave at the homesteads for the warriors who have not yet handed in their guns,” Mulindwa said. He said in one incident, an LDU commander, ordered his forces to fire indiscriminately in defence of fellow soldiers to justify the use of the full magazine he had given to the warriors.“The racket is very common whenever we despatch the LDUs to carry out operations in areas where they hail from,” Mulindwa said.He said the UPDF was considering deploying the LDUs outside their areas of origin.Under the disarmament programme, at least 60 LDUs were recruited from each of the 42 sub-counties in Karamoja. They were trained, provided with uniform and deployed in their sub-counties to assist the disarmament exercise.They were expected to link the UPDF to the community in terms of communication and identifying the defiant warriors who had not handed in guns.A source said the UPDF had been wondering how the warriors had maintained their supply of ammunition, yet the external supply routes had been blocked.The same sources said the LDUs could have been responsible for the surprise attacks on UPDF positions.Ends