Several soldiers of the Ugandan army, the UPDF, cannot wait to retire so as to get juicy retirement packages, a top official in the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) has revealed. With several UPDF Officers longing to leave army because of juicy retirement packages, there has to be constant recruitment.
This week, seven generals were documented for retirement from the UPDF. They are part of a batch of about 1,300 top, middle and lower military career personnel that will retire in July 2025.
The UPDF has somewhat flexible retirement rules, especially for age for early retirement. Soldiers from the rank of Lieutenant (Lt) to Captain (Capt) can apply for early retirement at 40 years.
A major (Maj) is free to retire at the age of 45; a Lieutenant Colonel (Lt Col) at 47, and a Colonel (Col) at 51.
Current rules indicate that UPDF officers from the rank of Second Lieutenant to General can apply for retirement after 14 years of service. The lower ranks can apply for early retirement after nine years of service in the army.
In some cases, the UPDF High Command can force some soldiers to retire earlier or even against their will.
One such case is that of former deputy chief of defence forces Lt Gen Peter Elwelu. Aged 58, Elwelu could still have served for some more years but he was forced into early retirement.
Dropped as deputy chief of defence forces and appointed presidential advisor last year, Lt Gen Peter Elwelu got into trouble with Museveni’s son, now top army chief Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba who called him a buff00n. (See Details Here, There and Over There).
ATTRACTIVE AND JUICY UPDF RETIREMENT PACKAGES
As he addressed the seven retiring generals at a documentation event at the at the Ministry of Defence and Veteran Affairs (MODVA) headquarters in Mbuya, Chief of Joint Staff Major General Jack Bakasumba told the retirees that the retirement ahead of them was simply “bliss.”
He also said that there were several officers eager to leave the army so as to tap into juicy retirement packages.
Maj Gen Bakasumba even told the retiring generals that they will be among the wealthiest people in their villages and districts given how much they will take home.
“So many officers are now longing for retirement because of the huge package,” Maj Gen Bakasumba said.
“You will find yourselves being the richest personnel in the districts.”
You can read about the juicy retirement packages for Peter Elwelu and other generals who are set to pocket billions Here.
You can also see the list of the most highly paid Museveni State House employees earning between Shs30m and Shs10m Here.
EARLY RETIREMENT ELSEWHERE
Elsewhere, the issue of government employees opting for early retirement because of juicy retirement packages threatens a crisis.
For example, in the education sector, several science teachers were applying for early retirement after government increased their salaries, meaning they could earn huge retirement packages. But president Museveni issued a warning against the move by “greedy” science teachers, as reported Here and There.
Meanwhile, arts teachers have told Museveni’s government that they will not step in class again starting next week if their salaries are not raised to Shs4m. Also, there are rumors that government plans to reduce science teachers’ salaries after failing to increase arts teachers’ pay. (See Details Here and There).
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