The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Karamoja, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | A decision by the Uganda Peoples Defence Forces-UPDF to phase out the Local Defence Unit has left many of them broken and pleading with the authorities not to victimised them.
Lt. General Peter Elwelu, the Commander of Land Forces announced that the UPDF was phasing out all the local Defence Unit personnel recruited and deployed in Karamoja after investigations found out that they were part of the problem of cattle rustling in the region.
Gen. Elwelu said the army will do the screening of the LDUs and ensure that those with a good record are taken back for refresher training and later integrated into the UPDF while those with a bad reputation will be discharged with disgrace and asked to return uniforms and weapons entrusted to them.
But several LDU personnel are now pleading with the army to first undertake thorough investigations before phasing out the LDUs. John Lokol, one of the affected personnel told URN that the plan will leave thousands of people jobless. There are 15,000 Karimojong natives working as Local Defence Unit personnel in Karamoja and each of them earns a monthly payment of 230,000 Shillings.
Betty Nasike, one of the female LDU personnel told URN that the money she has been earning was helping her educate her two sisters, and she is worried that laying them off will affect their education. She appealed to their commanders to be objective while screening so that the innocent people will not be sent back home on the basis of having a bad record.
Gladys Nangiro, another LDU said that she has never lost or hired a gun or a bullet apart from what she shot when cattle rustlers attacked the protected kraal in Loputuk village in Nadunget Sub County in Moroto district.
However, Lt. Gen. Peter Elwelu maintained that the LDUs with a good record will be integrated into UPDF.
********
URN
