Tomorrow Uganda will mark 60 years since gaining her independence from the British. The country became socially, economically, and politically independent on October 9, 1962, which makes it six decades of self-rule.
A reminder is that 36 of the 60 years of Uganda’s independence have been politically driven by President Yoweri Museveni while the other eight presidents served for only 24 years. As you celebrate that Uganda has self-ruled for six decades, you need to know what is the strength of each of the vital security agencies.
UPDF
The first fact is Uganda is ranked 92 out of 142 countries in terms of military hardware and force numbers. This puts Uganda in second position after Kenya in East Africa when it comes to military strength. Kenya ranks number 81 in the whole world.
Uganda People’s Defence Forces -UPDF numbers stand at 47,000 active personnel according to the Global Firepower website. This excludes Local Defence Unit -LDU soldiers who were trained two years ago to support the police in fighting violent crime. Between 2018, and 2020, UPDF recruited 24,000 LDU soldiers who help in patrolling villages and streets in night hours. Currently, over 10000 LDUs are undergoing training which will increase the number of UPDF up to 80,000 personnel.
UPDF has 49 air fighters that include 10 fighters/interceptors, 25 helicopters, and five attack helicopters thus totalling 49 air fleets. Uganda has over 1000 armoured vehicles that include military tanks.
Police force
With the 5000 probation police constables that were passed out a year ago, Uganda’s police force strength stands at 52,000. Police have specialized units such as Counter-Terrorism -CT that don black attires and have the capacity to engage terrorists in urban area.
Over the years, police have built the capacity to engage, detect, prevent and investigate criminal activities. Police have erected over 5,000 Closed Circuit Television -CCTV cameras whereby 3,323 are in the Kampala metropolitan area that includes Kampala City, Wakiso and Mukono districts.
But ICT director Yusuf Ssewanyana was a few weeks ago quoted by the media saying they need over 5,000 more CCTV cameras in order to strengthen security in the slums of Kampala City and its outskirts.
In addition, Police have built a specialized forensic directorate currently headed by Andrew Mubiru. This directorate has so far profiled over 3000 serial robbery, murder and rape culprits which simplifies criminal prosecution.
Ugandan Prisons
At every press conference, Frank Baine, the spokesperson of Uganda Prisons Service -UPS says the institution has over 12,000 personnel who supervise at least 60,000 inmates in various jail facilities.
Para-military groups
In case Uganda is attacked and the worse becomes the worst, Uganda would seek the services of the reservists. These include former but retired soldiers and legally operating para-military groups like Private Security Organisations -PSOs.
Records at the police force’s department of private security and firearms indicate Uganda has over 200 PSOs of which majority deploy their guards with weapons hired from the police force or legally authorised firearms importers.
In nutshell, Uganda has over 55,000 men and women serving as Guards in PSO. The country also has over 20,000 reserve forces. For the sake of not being perceived as prejudicing state security, this writer will not dwell on the kind of guns UPDF, police or UPS have and where these firearms are kept.
All these figures on Uganda’s military strength can be read on websites below
https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/news/national/updf-to-recruit-more-10-000-ldus-3518212
https://www.independent.co.ug/police-to-recruit-another-5000-police-officers-2/