Editing Uganda People's Defence Force (section)

===Uganda Peoples' Defence Force, 1995 to present===
The NRA had been successful in its war, and its senior military officers held key political positions in the NRM. It was reduced in size under pressure from donors, unwilling to fund either an outsize army or civil service. Between 1990 and 1996 the army was reduced from 100,000 to 40,000, and the civil service from 320,000 to 156,000.<ref>{{cite journal|first1=Andrew M.|last1=Mwandi|first2=Roger|last2=Tangiri|title=Patronage Politics, Donor Reforms, and Regime Consolidation in Uganda|journal=African Affairs|volume=104|number=416|date=2005|page=456}}</ref> Yet the defence budget rose from $44 million in 1991 as far as $200 million in 2004. Somerville ascribes the budget rise to the rebellion in the north, Uganda's [[Second Congo War|military intervention in the Congo]], and "massive corruption" - 'ghost soldiers' who did not exist, whose (real) salaries were claimed by senior officers.<ref>Keith Somerville, "Africa's Long Road Since Independence," Penguin, 207, 305.</ref>

The [[National Resistance Army]] was renamed the Uganda People's Defence Force following the enactment of the 1995 Constitution of Uganda.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://portal.defence.go.ug:10039/wps/portal/mod-home/armed-forces/!ut/p/a1/vVRNU-owFP0rumApuW1Nm7rLE3RESgXRJ904AdIQbJt-BFr49UbGhYNfz5F52d3ce0_OOckNitADijK2loJpqTKWvMSR--iHQKxrsHuhH3pACeDh0OkC-K4pmJgC-GRR2OsfexTo5b03DPv-1dU1Rn9RhKJZpnO9QJNclZolR5XUvAXbz2EZ7NK-MrBPYC-V9hgwsfYKlfhSPuG9tK88YIZ1UTh8x9qcmTPB57ySIttFMzlHE9FUmzoVJ7lOU5FsNqtmWTfZbFPFKZPJdlurZvGq-AtJ3zi2U_y1Z73vXDMcaDZ1iEBRyWNe8rK9Ks1tLbTOz1rGnbqu23OTyWa8LVR7JVrwUdNCVRo9vCtGE6PRe0Og2z-HYdjBEISBAxij2x-atg8YYBsoHlj0gowssOxfAxLaAWqfk9FtxwboegcGtNwDA979miEJsA-0h_8Q93RskZtDS-7-XHLvH34LuSyKiJqZV5nmjXl9_23o8_QuJcu478aBxlOcr7fjOE0fB4MTNiXgvGz0KT0-fgaHSfDm/dl5/d5/L2dBISEvZ0FBIS9nQSEh/ |title=UPDF |access-date=14 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181014091532/http://portal.defence.go.ug:10039/wps/portal/mod-home/armed-forces/!ut/p/a1/vVRNU-owFP0rumApuW1Nm7rLE3RESgXRJ904AdIQbJt-BFr49UbGhYNfz5F52d3ce0_OOckNitADijK2loJpqTKWvMSR--iHQKxrsHuhH3pACeDh0OkC-K4pmJgC-GRR2OsfexTo5b03DPv-1dU1Rn9RhKJZpnO9QJNclZolR5XUvAXbz2EZ7NK-MrBPYC-V9hgwsfYKlfhSPuG9tK88YIZ1UTh8x9qcmTPB57ySIttFMzlHE9FUmzoVJ7lOU5FsNqtmWTfZbFPFKZPJdlurZvGq-AtJ3zi2U_y1Z73vXDMcaDZ1iEBRyWNe8rK9Ks1tLbTOz1rGnbqu23OTyWa8LVR7JVrwUdNCVRo9vCtGE6PRe0Og2z-HYdjBEISBAxij2x-atg8YYBsoHlj0gowssOxfAxLaAWqfk9FtxwboegcGtNwDA979miEJsA-0h_8Q93RskZtDS-7-XHLvH34LuSyKiJqZV5nmjXl9_23o8_QuJcu478aBxlOcr7fjOE0fB4MTNiXgvGz0KT0-fgaHSfDm/dl5/d5/L2dBISEvZ0FBIS9nQSEh/ |archive-date=14 October 2018 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

UPDF's primary focus was the conflict with the [[Lord's Resistance Army]] (LRA), a rebel group operating in the country's northern region. Since March 2002, UPDF has been granted permission to carry out operations against LRA bases across the border in [[South Sudan]]. These raids, collectively known as [[Operation Iron Fist (2002)|Operation Iron Fist]], have resulted in the repatriation of many [[abducted children]] being held by the rebels as [[child soldier]]s or [[sex slave]]s. The LRA has fled Uganda and been pushed deep into the jungles of the [[Central African Republic]] and the [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]] (DRC) (principally [[Orientale Province]]).

The UPDF has also been the subject of controversy for having a minimum age for service of 13.<ref>CIA World Factbook, [https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/uganda/], March 2012</ref> Many international organizations have condemned this as being [[military use of children]]. This has created an image problem for the UPDF and may have impacted the international aid Uganda receives. [[Western world|Western]] nations have sent a limited level of military aid to Uganda.<ref>[http://www.un.org/events/tenstories_2006/story.asp?storyID=100 Uganda: Child soldiers at centre of mounting humanitarian crisis] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090505062852/http://www.un.org/events/tenstories_2006/story.asp?storyID=100 |date=5 May 2009 }}</ref> "Between 1990 and 2002, the army payroll had at least 18,000 ghost soldiers, according to a report by General [[David Tinyefunza|David Tinyefuza]]."<ref>Joshua Kato, [http://www.sundayvision.co.ug/detail.php?mainNewsCategoryId=7&newsCategoryId=132&newsId=506988 "Assessing the cost of an army"], ''[[New Vision|Sunday Vision]]'', 30 June 2006 {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120207092705/http://www.sundayvision.co.ug/detail.php?mainNewsCategoryId=7&newsCategoryId=132&newsId=506988 |date=7 February 2012 }}</ref>

The problem continued in 2003, when there was a severe problem of "ghost" soldiers within the UPDF.<ref>The Weekly Observer, [http://www.ugandaobserver.com/new/archives/2005arch/news/jun/news200505266.php Committee wants death penalty for ghost creators] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928071245/http://www.ugandaobserver.com/new/archives/2005arch/news/jun/news200505266.php |date=28 September 2011 }}, 2005</ref> As of 2008, these personnel problems has been exacerbated by the surge of UPDF troops resigning to work with the [[Multi-National Force – Iraq|Coalition Forces]] in [[Iraq]].<ref>[http://antiamerica.wordpress.com/2008/09/02/iraq-ugandan-guards-in-iraq-face-abuse/ Iraq Ugandan Guards Face Abuse], accessed December 2008 {{webarchive | url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090518050351/http://antiamerica.wordpress.com/2008/09/02/iraq-ugandan-guards-in-iraq-face-abuse/ | date=18 May 2009 }}</ref> They mostly work as an additional guard force at control points and dining facilities, for example.

Prior to 2000, the [[United States armed forces]] trained together with the UPDF as part of the [[African Crisis Response Initiative]]. This cooperation was terminated in 2000 because of Uganda's incursion into the DRC. Following the June 2003 UPDF withdrawal of troops from the DRC, limited nonlethal military assistance has restarted. The UPDF participates in the [[African Contingency Operations Training and Assistance]] programme with the United States.

After several interventions in the Congo, the UPDF was involved in a further incursion there, from December 2008 stretching into February 2009, against the LRA in the [[Garamba]] area. UPDF special forces and artillery, supported by aircraft, were joined by the [[Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo|DRC's armed forces]] and elements of the [[Sudan People's Liberation Army]]. Called "Operation Lightning Thunder" by the UPDF, it was commanded by Brigadier [[Patrick Kankiriho]], commander of the 3rd Division.<ref>Monitor (Kampala), [http://www.monitor.co.ug/artman/publish/news/UPDF_commanders_behind_Operation_Lightning_Thunder_77161.shtml UPDF commanders behind Operation Lightning Thunder], 20 December 2008 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090418065132/http://www.monitor.co.ug/artman/publish/news/UPDF_commanders_behind_Operation_Lightning_Thunder_77161.shtml |date=18 April 2009 }}</ref><ref>[http://www.monitor.co.ug/artman/publish/news/Bantariza_moved_in_new_UPDF_reshuffle_80356.shtml Bantariza moved in new UPDF reshuffle], February 2009 {{webarchive | url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090418065132/http://www.monitor.co.ug/artman/publish/news/UPDF_commanders_behind_Operation_Lightning_Thunder_77161.shtml | date=18 April 2009}}</ref>

In February 2023, President Museveni warned the UPDF against brutality towards civilians, and corruption.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-02-07 |title=Museveni warns UPDF against brutalising civilians |url=https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/news/national/museveni-warns-updf-against-brutalising-civilians-4113884 |access-date=2023-04-12 |website=Monitor |language=en}}</ref>