Renegade General David Sejusa complained of being denied a chance to honourably retire and claimed there were many more disgruntled senior officers who wished to leave the forces.

Renegade General David Sejusa complained of being denied a chance to honourably retire and claimed there were many more disgruntled senior officers who wished to leave the forces.

At least 1300 soldiers of the Uganda Peoples Defence Forces (UPDF) are set to retire unanimously in the next financial year, Gen Katumba Wamala- the Chief of Defence Forces has said.

In an interview with local media on Tuesday, Katumba said government was obliged to include soldiers on the national budget who have reached retirement age. He notes that the army has decided not to carry on with soldiers who have clocked the mandatory retirement age saying there is need to have room for the fresh blood.

He continued to say the government will follow the same structure to retire more 5000 soldiers in the next five successive years.

Katumba urged soldiers to hand in their retirement applications saying the UPDF has already passed on the information to Public Service ministry to ensure their pension is ready for the time of exit. He adds that captains, majors, sergeants and corporals have already been selected for retirement effective July 01.

He emphasized that the retirement is provided for in the UPDF act of 2005 and any soldier who has  served for a mandatory period of 13 years is eligible. He asks soldiers intending to retire to apply to the commission board chaired by commander defence forces that decides whether to grant the retirement or not.

However, for the last few months, the UPDF has been in the spotlight for allegedly denying some army officials their desire to retire for fear of their political ambitions.

Renegade General David Sejusa complained of being denied a chance to honourably retire and claimed there were many more disgruntled senior officers who wished to leave the forces.

So far over 2000 soldiers across the country have shown interest.