Abstract
The article is premised on the hypothesis that the Uganda Peoples' Defence Force (UPDF) and the attendant auxiliary forces are not an ideal force for domestic deployment in contending with public health pandemics such as COVID-19. The UPDF has been the main architectural tool that has been deployed by the National Resistance Movement party, a former guerilla movement, to perpetuate militarisation in the country for the past 30 years. The conduct, power, authority and prominent position accorded to the UPDF in the management of COVID-19 and the enforcement of the prevention measures laid bare this reality. Thus, unlike in other jurisdictions where the militaries were deployed because of their superior capability to adapt and provide extra and immediate professional services to support the civilian authorities, in Uganda this deployment was different. It was informed by the long-held and widely-documented belief by the President of Uganda, Museveni, that the UPDF, which developed from his personal guerrilla army of the National Resistance Army (NRA), only holds a legitimate vision for the country and is far more reliable. The COVID-19 pandemic, therefore, was an opportunity to continue the deliberate build-up and normalisation of the infiltration of the military in what have hitherto been spheres of operation for the civil and public servants. Thus, a critical question arises as to whether the primary motivation factor for the UPDF deployment was political, to accentuate the presidency of Museveni in power through militarisation. The question is also whether any positive harvests from the deployment of the military in the fight against COVID-19 were unintended consequences and, if they did materialise, how they were used to further glorify the centrality of the military in dealing with societal crises, further entrenching militarism. The article concludes with some recommendations emphasising the need for accountability - more so, parliamentary oversight in the deployment of the military in such situations to counter a breach of rights and freedoms. Additionally, this would check the current trend of the executive having the exclusive power to deploy the military, making it susceptible to hijacking and eventual politicisation and militarisation.
Highlights
As the scourge of the COVID-19 pandemic ravaged different parts of the world, it caught nations unaware and unprepared
Unlike in other jurisdictions where the militaries were deployed because of their superior capability to adapt and provide extra and immediate professional services to support the civilian authorities, in Uganda this deployment was different. It was informed by the long-held and widelydocumented belief by the President of Uganda, Museveni, that the Uganda Peoples’ Defence Force (UPDF), which developed from his personal guerrilla army of the National Resistance Army (NRA), only holds a legitimate vision for the country
Rightly cited, were interpreted narrowly to fit into the grand scheme of militarisation and unquestionable state authority as the last line of defence against the pandemic. In this part we examine the legislative framework used by the Ugandan government in combating the pandemic and how permissive it was of militarisation, negatively impacting on the protection and promotion of human rights
Summary
As the scourge of the COVID-19 pandemic ravaged different parts of the world, it caught nations unaware and unprepared. Having a standing effective military with the ability to offer human resource in such emergencies is both a great milestone and a call for concern The latter is premised on the way in which these military institutions are hijacked by the ruling political class to consolidate their often authoritarian rule prevalent before the outbreak of such pandemics, as has been witnessed in Myanmar, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines.[5] In addition, there is the contested manner – often militant – dubbed ‘martial law-like lockdown’ in which these institutions work by approaching pandemics as an ‘insurgency to quash – not a crisis that requires long-term health reforms’.6. Militarism demands that an entire society become permeated with and built according to military values and priorities ... the concept of militarisation draws attention to the simultaneously material and discursive nature of military dominance
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