UPDF Reform Committee Set Up

By Geoffrey KamaliAFTER months of debate on how the UPDF should be carved into a professional army, it is now time for action.President Yoweri Museveni has now appointed a Defence Reform Committee, to oversee the modernisation process of the army. The appointments take immediate effect.Defence minister, Amama Mbabazi revealed the appointments during an end-of-year staff party for Ministry of Defence employees at the Nile Hotel on Friday.He said the defence state minister, Ruth Nankabirwa, had been assigned to take charge of the UPDF welfare.The three-member committee is headed by Col. Robert Rusoke, earlier appointed military attache to the US. Others are Maj. Paul Lokech and Ms. Edith Mwanje.Army spokesman Shaban Bantariza said on Saturday he was not aware of the appointments. He, however, said the committee had been recommended.Bantariza said the committee, would make the UPDF efficient in its working methods, including its expenditure, procurement and other operations.“Sometime last year, UPDf senior officers recommended at a seminar at the Ranch on the Lake that such a committee should be established,” he said.Sources said the committee would soon start with job-evaluation of all ministry staff to ensure responsibility and accountability across the board.Col. Rusoke has reportedly been awaiting the return of Col. Mateeka, who has reportedly been winding up as the military attache to the US.Ends