KAMPALA, Uganda
President of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni, on Sunday June 26 met the top military leadership in the south-western Ntungamo District, days after all UPDF soldiers were put on standby class 1, the highest level of military readiness.
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| President Museveni (C) met with the UPDF Service Chiefs at 401 Brigade Headquarters in Irenga, Ntungamo District on June 26. |
“I met with the UPDF Service
Chiefs at 401 Brigade Headquarters in Irenga, Ntungamo District,” the President
tweeted at 8:56pm last evening.
He offered no details of their
discussions, and it remained unclear why he announced that the meeting had
taken place.
A 57-second video clip
tweeted under the President’s name appeared to show him admiring undulating
terrains of south-western Uganda and departing after speaking to a small crowd
of residents.
Highly-placed security and
intelligence sources, who asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the
matter, said Gen Museveni summoned the military honchos on Friday after
disparate messages were transmitted to the rank-and-file in the week.
Lt Gen Peter Elwelu, the
deputy chief of defence forces (D/CDF), without giving a reason, on Wednesday
ordered the UPDF to ensure the highest level of preparedness.
He called the emergency
notification “imara”, a Kiswahili word in the context variously interpreted to
imply the rank-and-file of the military should keep solid, tough or resilient
Standby Class 1 is the highest
level of alertness in the military and the order means there should be no troop
or equipment movement, pending a final instruction.
Placing the military on
Standby Class 1 is a rare occurrence, and for the UPDF, this is one is many
years. For instance, the army is known not to have activated such high level of
preparedness for emergency even when insecurity blamed on Karimojong cattle
rustlers spiralled into neighbouring Teso, Sebei and Lango sub-regions, or when
alleged ADF terrorists detonated bombs last year.
There is nothing to suggest a breakdown or disconnect in overall command and
control of the UPDF.
Sources said only a senior
UPDF spymaster at the rank of major general flew to south-western Uganda for
official duty at the weekend.
Since the Standby Class 1
order went out, all commanders have been directed to account for personnel in
area of responsibility, including actual locations and what they are doing.
In some services, a roll call
of troops is conducted twice a day, in the morning and evening.
The radio call message about
the order did not specify why the emergency military mode was being activated,
or how long it would last.
In comments on Thursday for
our Friday lead, UPDF place on high alert, army Spokesman, Brig Felix
Kulayigye, described the order as “… a normal military decision [depending on]
whether something is upcoming or an undertaking is to be done.”
According to highly placed
sources, Lt Gen Elwelu issued the instructions because the Chief of Defence of
Forces (CDF), Gen Wilson Mbadi, was in Kenya where he had been for days,
working with regional counterparts to thrash out details of the composition,
command, resourcing and operation of the envisaged East African Community Force
to pacify eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
However, shortly after the
Standby Class 1 directive, the Commander of Land Forces (CLF) and First Son, Lt
Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, reportedly issued a radio message different from that
of DCDF regarding troops under his command.
Details of the disparate
messages to the same military reached President Museveni, the
commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, after his triumphant entry into Kigali,
the Rwandan capital, for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (Chogm)
also attended by the British royalty.
It is understood that an
investigation is underway into concerns that gave the original basis for
issuance of the Standby Class 1 order.
Highly-placed sources told
this newspaper that Gen Museveni, who referenced Lt Gen Elwelu’s order,
subsequently issued his own radio call message in which he also summoned the
CDF, his Deputy Elwelu, First Son and CLF Muhoozi, Service Chiefs and any
commander deemed relevant to the intended discussion.
The trio was present in a
photo accompanying the president’s post-meeting tweet which divulged no details.
Asked about the outcome last
night, Brig Kulayigye referred this reporter to “the source that leaked to you
information about the Standby [Class1 order”.
In an unrelated development,
the UPDF yesterday received a fourth Mi-28 attack helicopter, and two more are
expected to be delivered by the end of next month.
Uganda’s procurement of the
highly optimised, Russian-made fifth generation helicopters, were confirmed
when the helicopters could be spotted in a photograph officially shared by
State House depicting President Museveni during a visit to thank the Air Force
for degrading the capabilities of Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) in the early
days of Operation Shuja in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
Besides excessive hellfire
power, the helicopters, more advanced than Mi-24 and Mi-38 available in the
region, offer air superiority due to their high manoeuvrability, survivability,
weapons employment and ultra-modern equipment for detection and target
destruction in all weather, both day and night.
It can fire bullets, bombs and
missiles --- with precision of up to 8 kilometres --- on targets identified
either using laser beams, infrared or thermos-imaging. – Daily Monitor
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