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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Military service for all Ugandans | Military service for all Ugandans |
| (about 7 hours later) | |
| Military training is to be made compulsory for all Ugandans, the ruling party has announced. | Military training is to be made compulsory for all Ugandans, the ruling party has announced. |
| Anyone who failed to undertake the training would be punished, said National Resistance Movement Secretary General Amama Mbabazi. | Anyone who failed to undertake the training would be punished, said National Resistance Movement Secretary General Amama Mbabazi. |
| The decision was adopted at a five-day party retreat, where leaders participated in military drills and learnt to handle AK-47 rifles. | The decision was adopted at a five-day party retreat, where leaders participated in military drills and learnt to handle AK-47 rifles. |
| The NRM seized power in 1986 and won multi-party elections last year. | The NRM seized power in 1986 and won multi-party elections last year. |
| President Yoweri Museveni only retired from the army in 2004, to meet a legal requirement which bars serving soldiers from being active members of a political party. | President Yoweri Museveni only retired from the army in 2004, to meet a legal requirement which bars serving soldiers from being active members of a political party. |
| 'Gimmick' | 'Gimmick' |
| Voluntary military service for 18-year-olds, known as "mchaka mchaka", was introduced after Mr Museveni came to power in 1986. | |
| But the system fizzled out in the early 1990s after parents stopped sending their children to military training camps where they were also taught political ideology. | |
| The NRM has been talking about re-introducing it for several years. | |
| "We leaders have had basic training and we shall go back. This is the beginning and we have led the way," Mr Mbabazi told reporters in Kampala. | "We leaders have had basic training and we shall go back. This is the beginning and we have led the way," Mr Mbabazi told reporters in Kampala. |
| The NRM secretary general said the military training school would open branches across the country to reach more Ugandans. | The NRM secretary general said the military training school would open branches across the country to reach more Ugandans. |
| Opposition parties have condemned the move, according to local media reports. | Opposition parties have condemned the move, according to local media reports. |
| Democratic Party Leader John Ssebaana said it was useless. | Democratic Party Leader John Ssebaana said it was useless. |
| "This is a gimmick for the party to siphon money from the treasury," he told the Daily Monitor newspaper. | "This is a gimmick for the party to siphon money from the treasury," he told the Daily Monitor newspaper. |
| The Forum for Democratic Change, led by President Yoweri Museveni's arch rival, Dr Kizza Besigye, said it would wait to debate merits of the proposal in parliament. | The Forum for Democratic Change, led by President Yoweri Museveni's arch rival, Dr Kizza Besigye, said it would wait to debate merits of the proposal in parliament. |
| "I think they have brought this now to divert attention from their wrongful act of dressing MPs in military uniform," said FDC spokesman Wafula Oguttu. | "I think they have brought this now to divert attention from their wrongful act of dressing MPs in military uniform," said FDC spokesman Wafula Oguttu. |
| Eritrea is the only African country to have compulsory national military service. |