Tarehe Sita gave new face to Uganda’s army

Feb 07, 2010

ON Saturday, February 6, Uganda marked the <i>Tarehe Sita</i>. The day is remembered for causing fundamental change in the history of the country, especially the armed forces. It was on this day in 1981 that Gen. Yoweri Museveni, along with 26 young men, launched a guerrilla struggle to against the

By Christopher Omara

ON Saturday, February 6, Uganda marked the Tarehe Sita. The day is remembered for causing fundamental change in the history of the country, especially the armed forces. It was on this day in 1981 that Gen. Yoweri Museveni, along with 26 young men, launched a guerrilla struggle to against the tyranny that the Obote regime had unleashed upon Ugandans.

Organised under the NRM/NRA, the guerrilla movement toppled Tito Okello’s regime on January 26, 1986. Since then, Uganda has never been the same.

The epicentre of Uganda’s turbulent history is her armed forces created by and for the interests of Britain during colonisation. The post-colonial Uganda government inherited an anti-people’ army, causing mayhem in the 1970s and 1980s. Such bitter memories have continued to negatively impact on the progressive democratisation of the country.

The history of our army is a long one, dating back to 1902, when the Uganda Battalion of the King’s African Rifles was formed. On October 9, 1962, Uganda became independent from Britain, with the fourth Battalion, King’s African Rifles becoming the Uganda rifles. This, in effect, established colonial influence in the affairs of our army. This is not to say Uganda had no pre-colonial armed forces.

Uganda’s pre-colonial societies possessed complex military organisations. For instance, Kabalega, king of Bunyoro (1870-1899) transformed his personal guard into a standing army, with a variety of modern weapons. Mutesa I, king of Buganda (1852-1884), also raised a standing army, led by generals and captains. However, all these armies were not national. Their existence did not cause the kind of revolution that February 6 is remembered for in Uganda.

The Uganda Army, under the rule of Idi Amin from 1971 to 1979 and the Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA) under Obote I & II and a six-month-old regime of Gen. Tito Okello, were just a reflection of the colonial army. The armed forces were characterised by high levels of indiscipline, tribal tendencies, unprofessionalism and coup plots that undermined their reasons for existence at the time. The UNLA demonstrated the cost of lack of visionary leadership that must never happen again.

Following the enactment of the 1995 Constitution, the National Resistance Army (NRA) was renamed the Uganda People’s Defence Force (UPDF). The pro-people army has a different public image that all Ugandans should appreciate.

The UPDF is a modern army with about 50,000 personnel divided into land and air force, which is again categorised into several specialised units such as the armoured brigade, artillery, engineering, marines, special forces, motorised infantry, intelligence and other combat units. This is, indeed, the modern professional army Uganda deserves in the 21st century.

With the kind of discipline in the army, excellent civic-military relations through the public relations officers, Uganda will never go back to the anarchy experienced in the past.

As we celebrate this year’s Tarehe Sita, let us recall our history, analyse the present and shape the future with utmost objectivity and soberness. Uganda is moving forward under the protection of a disciplined and professional army.

The writer is the former Resident district commissioner of Pader

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