UPDF to recall 2700 veterans for Somalia deployment
The Uganda People’s Defence Forces(UPDF) is sent to recall 2752 retired soldiers for deployment in Somalia under the AMISOM, the Nile Post has learnt.
According to the UPDF Reserve Forces commander, Lt.Gen. Charles Awany Otema, the four- day exercise to recall the veterans for deployment will begin on January 20 before they are taken for training.
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“Article 17 of the 1995 Constitution of the Republic of Uganda and Section 31 of the Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces (UPDF) Act 7 of 2005 empower the Commander-In-Chief to order all or part of the Reserve Force to be on continuing full-time military service for such a period of time as he (C-In-C) may determine,”Lt.Gen.Otema said in the statement.
The veterans will then be deployed in Somalia to serve under Battle Groups 31 and 32(UGABAG XXXI and XXXII) to augment the UPDF operations under the AMISOM.
“This call up targets only the honorably discharged/retired UPDF veterans from the rank of Major and below.”
Requirements
The army says that only those aged 55 and below without any criminal record and in possession of original national IDs will be eligible for deployment and that they will be screened for physical, medical and mental fitness.
“The UPDF is committed to building its Reserve Force as part of its professionalization drive,” he said.
In 2007, Uganda was the first country to deploy troops in Somalia under the AMISOM and turned around what had for long been termed as a “mission dead on arrival.”
The Ugandan troops are deployed in Sector One in Benadir,(has 16 districts) Banadir, and Lower Shabelle regions having pushed Al Shabaab militants for over 200km away from Mogadishu city for normalcy to return to the capital where the militants roamed freely.
This is not the first time for the UPDF to deploy veterans in Somalia to augment the army.
In 2013, the reservists were deployed under Battle Group Nine plus (BG9+) that captured the northern axis of Mogadishu right from Masillah to 115km at Jowhwar.
Currently, UGBAGXXX also comprises of veterans in its ranks
