Kampala LDUs to receive orders from army

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Uganda People’s Defense Forces-UPDF has selected a group of 810 officers and non Commissioned officers to command the recently passed out 6,000 Local Defense Unit-LDU personnel.

The officers will begin operating immediately the LDU personnel return from a two week’s leave following their pass out at Kaweweta.

The LDU personnel will be stationed at different Local Council units so as to help police with law enforcement and patrol duties.

Lt. Col Henry Obbo, the Officer in Charge of speaking for the group, says the LDUs will not report or receive orders from the police but the army.

“They will be under UPDF command. A command structure has already been established and staffed with UPDF Officers and Non-commissioned Officers.

The LDUs are already distributed under the command structures and only await start of work,” Lt Col Obbo told URN.

He says upon their return, the LDUs will be armed and deployed. It is hoped that with the deployment of the LDUs, some of the soldiers who have been helping police will be withdrawn.

The soldiers have been operating at different police stations in Kampala Metropolitan Policing area since October 2018.

The soldiers were meant to serve until the 24,000 LDUs proposed by the President are recruited, trained and deployed.

So far only 6,000 LDUs have been trained and are ready for deployment.

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