The Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) have announced the recruitment of Local Defence Unit (LDU) personnel in six districts of Rwenzori and Tooro following a series of deadly attacks in the two sub-regions at the weekend.
The Director of Defence Public Information, Maj Gen Felix Kulayigye, said in a statement yesterday that the recruitment exercise will commence on November 10, in Kabarole District and will process 100 applicants per district.
‘To be able to qualify, one has to have a minimum formal education of S.4 or its equivalent, letters of recommendation from the LC1 Chairperson, Defence Secretary, and DISO/GISO, be a resident of the area without a criminal record, disciplined, and not engaged in other employment,’ the statement reads in part.
Eligibility
Eligible candidates must be Ugandan citizens aged 18 to 25, physically and medically fit, willing to volunteer, and residents of the respective districts. Successful recruits will be transported to a UPDF training school for formal induction. The beneficiary districts include Kamwenge, Kabarole, Bunyangabo, Kasese, Bundibugyo, and Ntoroko. The recruitment follows coordinated attacks by suspected Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels on military and police installations last Saturday in Kasese, Bundibugyo, and Fort Portal. The assaults claimed the lives of a UPDF officer and a woman at the Malindi and Kakuka army detachments in Bundibugyo District.
The attackers also set several soldiers’ houses ablaze before fleeing. Targets also included Nyakasura School and Canon Apollo in Fort Portal City, police barracks on Kilembe Road in Kasese Town, and a police post in Rugendebara, Kikongo Town Council, Kasese District. Local media reported that at least 30 suspected assailants were killed in retaliatory security operations. Security agencies have condemned the attacks and reassured the public that the situation is under control, with additional deployments and heavy security measures instituted to prevent further incidents.
BACKGROUND
This is not the first time LDU recruitment has followed security threats in the region. In 2023, President Museveni directed the recruitment of local defence personnel in Rwenzori Sub-region after suspected ADF rebels killed three people, including two foreign tourists, and set their vehicle ablaze in Queen Elizabeth National Park, Kasese District.