Officers of the Uganda People's Defense Forces-UPDF want parliament to review the UPDF ACT, 2005 to include clauses that cater for a modern army and increase retirement age.
Lt. Gen. Wilson Mbadi, the Deputy Chief of Defense Forces disclosed this while addressing 575 officers and combatants of retirement batch 8A in Jinja district on Wednesday.
Mbadi noted that some of the soldiers are forced to retire to fulfill the provisions of the act yet they are still capable of serving their country.
“We need a review of the whole UPDF Act on certain areas that we think have been overtaken by events. So we want to bring them up to date with the current situation so that they are applicable. It is not just about warrant officers, it includes age brackets so that some people are given more time to serve because they contribute a lot to foundation ethics in the military” Lt. Gen. Mbadi said.
The UPDF ACT 2005 indicates that warrant officers under class 1 retire at 50 years; class II at 48 years while staff sergeants and others leave at 46. But, Mbadi says they also want parliament to review the compensation for disability attained in service and the time they retire after sustaining injuries and pension given to low ranking officers.
He also told the officers to invest their pension in small businesses to support them to fend for their families. The force is set to retire 1,297 officers and soldiers in 2018/2019 financial year comprising of 1159 militants, 127 senior officers and 11 generals
