“We are ready to steer the ship, says Gen Mbadi as he assumes office as new CDF

Gen Wilson Mbadi has said he is ready for the big task ahead as the new Chief of Defence Forces in the UPDF.

“With the team given to me, I think we shall steer the ship. I promise I will pick from where you left and make my contribution in the direction of making things better. I will try to make our force more efficient, more accountable, and more effective,”Mbadi said.

"We shall do our best to make UPDF better."

This was during the handover ceremony of the office of the Chief of Defence Forces by Gen David Muhoozi to Gen Wilson Mbadi during a function held at the Ministry of Defence headquarters in Mbuya.

Gen Mbadi said the new team given to him by President Museveni who is also the commander in chief will help him achieve more.

Speaking at the function, the outgoing CDF urged the successor to build on the successes achieved in the past years in ensuring the country is secure.

“Despite isolated cases of threats, we are generally stable. Due to the instability in South Sudan, DRC and the publicized hostility to the Southwest of our frontier; we also sometimes experience episodes of insecurity adjacent to these borders. UPDF has nevertheless managed to counter these threats and we are in large measures peaceful and stable,” Gen Muhoozi said.

He noted that the UPDF capabilities have remarkably improved, making it a highly professional and modern force with robust capacity to deal with any situation that may emerge nationally and from within the region.

The outgoing Chief of Defence Forces in the UPDF however urged his successor to be keen on the welfare of officers.

“The concept of housing for the troops is complete and now a bankable project. It was captured in the budgetary speech. I heard people cheer it at Kololo but when we looked, the money was not in the budget. I would advise that rather than wait for the big bang approach of doing all at once when money is available, it is advisable to scale this ambition and start with a modest number of houses at a time for our service personnel, “he urged.

Gen Muhoozi also urged his successor to ensure the Wazalendo Sacco for the UPDF soldiers is protected in order to serve its founding purpose.

The function

The function started with Gen Mbadi being decorated as a four–star general, having been promoted shortly after appointed as the Chief of Defence Forces by President Museveni.

He later received the instruments of office from his predecessor, Gen David Muhoozi who was recently appointed as the State Minister for Internal Affairs.