Work with LDUs, UPDF urges LC leaders

Following a recent wave of organised crime, especially in urban areas, the army is appealing to local authorities to cooperate with Local Defence Unit (LDUs) deployed to their regions.

Over 6,000 LDUs are currently deployed in Kampala and Wakiso districts to boost security presence in the areas, mostly through mobile patrols with other security agencies. 

Maj. Bilal Yusuf Katamba, the spokesperson of the First Division of the Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) says LDUs have helped tame crime in spite of being a small force.

"The LDUs cannot solve all security challenges at once, but house break-ins and theft of animals in their areas of deployment have reduced," Katamba said in an interview with New Vision.

According to Katamba, the LDUs are deployed to battalions named after the five divisions of Kampala; Wakiso, Mukono and Kira. 

He, however, noted that a bigger force of LDUs was required to deal with the changing nature of security threats, including organised criminal networks that operate with precision.

Katamba advised area security leaders to share their community's security challenges with LDU teams so that they can work out a plan to deal with the threats.

"I encourage local leaders to work with the LDU detach commanders and present their security concerns to them for an amicable solution," he explained. 

Last week, the UPDF, which supervises the LDUs, revealed plans to recruit another 1,300 LDUs starting Tuesday next week, to patrol areas in central, eastern, northern and mid-western Uganda.

Applicants are required to present national IDs, primary and O-level qualifications, proof of a clean criminal record and complete medical fitness drills.

The 6,436 LDUs, who were recruited in October, last year, were trained at Oliver Tambo Military Training School in Kaweweta, Nakaseke district.

The recruitment of LDUs, announced by president Yoweri Museveni in September last year, followed a spate of killings of high profile officials, drawing panic and fear.

In his security address to the nation in September last year, the president ordered the recruitment of 24, 000 LDUs, to among other things, beef up Police, the army and other security agencies.

For the start, Museveni suggested, that the LDUs be deployed in at least1,000 villages that make up Kampala, Wakiso and parts of Mukono districts, where pockets of organised crime are rife.

The high profile assassinations that sent a wave of shock among the public domain include that of former Buyende district Police commander, Muhammed Kirumira, former Assistant Inspector General of Police, Andrew Felix Kaweesi, former Arua Municipality MP, Ibrahim Abiriga, Maj. Mohammed Kiggundu, the senior principal State Attorney, Joan Kagezi and Muslim clerics.

Apart from LDUs, the president ordered the installation of CCTV cameras, establishment of a modern forensic lab, acquisition of modern scanners to check smuggling; a ban on hooded boda bodas and the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, among other interventions.