Senior army officer cautions civilians against using military attire

UPDF's Chief Political Commissar, Brig.Henry Matsiko has warned the public that the army will not keep quiet as the country descends towards militarisation as manifested in the fight over gazetted insignia.

Recently, the army came out and warned civilians against wearing military attire which caused a lot of controversy among the members of the public more especially the People Power pressure group which uses the red beret as one of their symbols.

The leadership of People Power said their red beret is totally different from that of the army and that the move is aimed at frustrating their efforts towards unseating president Museveni from power come 2021.

However, Matsiko said that the Uganda People’s Defence Forces(UPDF) is more than ready to counter civilians who are trying to compete with the armed forces in wearing their attire.

He made the remarks on Friday during the launch of a report on the state of human rights in Uganda.

"We hope people who are trying to copy military attire are not moving towards the temptation to do activities in the military way. Should they do that, they will have to account for what they have chosen to do," he said.

He noted anybody who wants to do political activities ought to ensure that he or she remains within boundaries of civil political action.

But Joel Ssenyonyi, the spokesperson of People Power said they will keep on wearing their red berets without fear because there is no law they are breaking.

"The other day, we wore it at police station. We wore them and we shall always do so. I told you earlier that we are waiting for anyone to be charged for wearing red berets and you will see our course of action," she said.