At the height of terror attacks in Uganda towards the end of 2021, the commander-in-chief informed the country that the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) were the masterminds of the bombings that left some dead and scores injured. Following this revelation, the Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces (UPDF) clandestinely entered the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and launched what later came to be known as Operation Shuja which to date is still in its infant stages. The operation is a joint military campaign between the UPDF and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo whose aim is to vanquish the ADF which would be a significant milestone in the war on terrorism in East Africa. One would argue that this is a war of necessity, one that the two countries must take on given their previous taste of the bitter cup of bloodshed served by the ADF. Notwithstanding the legitimacy of the operation, it has understandably generated considerable debate in Uganda, DRC and the international community specifically regarding the UPDF’s involvement in the campaign. Among the concerns raised by the international community include the unspecified period of the operation (given that the UPDF is on foreign soil), the possible misconduct of the UPDF (given its unpleasant past in DRC) and the prospects of success.

In Uganda, the debate about Operation Shuja mainly concerns the fact that the operation was never authorized by parliament as section 39 of the UPDF Act stipulates, the 249.2 million daily expenditure to keep the operation running which has necessitated the ministry of defence to request a lofty 89.7 billion shillings cheque not to mention the recent video of a civilian journalist dressed in military fatigue appearing to be commanding the members of the armed force, a role that was assigned to his brother Major General Kayanja Muhanga. This well-founded public reservation about Operation Shuja is born of the noticeable occasional misconduct of the Ugandan military which is characterized by the recalcitrant conduct of the military to civilian authority and the pervasive arrogance of senior military officers exacerbated by a long history of military disregard for the law in Uganda. While the UPDF has proven to be more disciplined than the past militaries of the Republic of Uganda, it has become increasingly clear that such discipline is more emphasized among lower ranks and it fades the higher an officer grows in rank. Many high-ranking military officers exude a god-like sense of self-importance bolstered by deep-set impunity on account of their real or perceived military accomplishments. While this is a detestable public perception of our armed forces, there is a far more critical impact of the modus operandi of the UPDF on the rule of law, democracy and foreign image of Uganda as this article will show.

"The deployment of the UPDF in DRC no matter how well-meaning and necessary is illegal by law for lack of parliamentary approval"

One of the most important pillars of an enduring democracy is the subordination of the armed force to civilian rule and for every true democracy, this is out of the question. While article 208 of the Ugandan Constitution is couched in mandatory terms that the UPDF shall be professional, disciplined and subordinate to civilian authority, the fulfilment of this constitutional aspiration is yet to be achieved. To begin with, the deployment of the UPDF in DRC no matter how well-meaning and necessary is illegal by law for lack of parliamentary approval. While some may argue that this deployment needed to be discreet to surprise the ADF, parliament should have been briefed as soon as the deployment was done. Lest we forget, the deployment of the UPDF in South Sudan in 2014 was done without the authority of parliament and the deployment of the UPDF in Zaire in 1999 was done with mere communication to parliament. This such a pattern of total disregard of parliament’s authority, it is safe to conclude that the UPDF command structure stands in utter contempt of civilian authority hence unwilling to fulfil the constitutional requirement.

The cost of such unilateral decisions of the military to deploy our troops abroad has always come at a great human and financial cost to the people of Uganda. In the case of the 1999 deployment of the UPDF in Zaire, Uganda ended up with the vilifying lawsuit filed by DRC in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for transgressing the sovereignty of DRC and the fact that high ranking military officers were found to have plundered natural resources in DRC. After the suit, Uganda was found liable and DRC later submitted a four billion-dollar request for reparations. The ICJ is set to deliver its ruling on this request on 9th February 2022. Should the ICJ order Uganda to pay the said reparation, it will be the ordinary taxpayer to bear the burden of the errant officers and their command structure that made the blunder. It is critical to note that none of the officers in the Zaire looting scandal was indicted for causing such a national embarrassment which today, could potentially be worth four billion dollars owed by the Ugandan taxpayer to DRC. This reparation order hanging over the heads of Ugandans coupled with the close to nine billion requested by the UPDF to finance Operation Shuja charged on a largely peasant economy that is yet to recover from the impact of COVID-19 will surely be bargain Ugandans did not sign up for. Had there been genuine oversight of the UPDF by parliament and an unquestionable subordination of the armed forces to civilian authority, there could perhaps have been a semblance of accountability in the Zaire operation.

With such potentially overwhelming economic ramifications that may result from Operation Shuja, not to mention the human causalities that the UPDF will surely incur, there is a compelling need for parliament to assert its supervisory powers over the executive to ensure that the operation is well executed with the responsibility and professionalism it deserves. In the interim, the august house must stand bold and demand for a comprehensive report regarding Operation Shuja and to sternly monitor the execution of the operation lest Uganda incurs unnecessary expenditures like the case was in 1999. However, in the long run, the people of Uganda must demand greater accountability from the armed forces and recognize they are the ultimate benefactors of the UPDF and therefore must call for a military discipline that has no exception. The reluctance of stakeholders concerning the conduct of the UPDF will not only fuel the existing impunity of the force but also threaten what democratic achievements Uganda may have achieved in the past. This is especially critical in a time when militaries across the continent have proved to be more contemptuous to the tenets of democracy and have resorted to mutinies, coups and intimidation of leaders which has plunged several African countries into political chaos, leadership vacuums and economic sanctions all of which affect the ordinary citizen.

Intil strict personal and collective accountability for excesses done by UPDF officers is enforced across the board, the stability of Uganda’s democracy and institutional independence will be in doubt not to mention the lofty bills that will continue to be cashed out of the taxpayers’ pocket to fund wars whose objective is not known and whose execution entangles Uganda in debt and foreign vilification. To this end, Ugandans can only hope that those in charge of this operation have learnt from the past and comprehend the enormity of the task before them and the stakes involved. It must be understood by all that this is a chance to right the wrongs done by the UPDF in 1999 and to salvage Uganda’s image in the DRC and beyond. This can only be achieved by outrightly crashing the ADF and getting out of DRC as swiftly as possible so that the ghosts of the 1999 Zaire campaign are put to rest.