Over 40 Kenyans Busted Trying to Get Recruited into Ugandan Military

More than 40 Kenyan nationals were arrested in Uganda after they were allegedly caught trying to join the country’s military.

Ugandan authorities busted the Kenyans during a military recruitment exercise on Monday following a tip-off from local residents, Uganda’s Daily Monitor reported. Residents informed recruiters about their origin and how they forged documents in order to join the army.

The group, which included men and women, was arrested during a military recruitment exercise carried out in Sipi sub-region.

"We only identified them here after we were tipped-off by some concerned citizens. Indeed as we went deep we found that they were not Ugandans, about 40 of them were eliminated on that fact,” said Telesphor Turyamanya, the regional military spokesperson.

Turyamanya further noted that most of them had the required documents including letters of recommendation from local administrators. 

"Imagine some of these Kenyans were actually recommended by administrators and we only identified them here after we were tipped off by some concerned citizens," he added.

Recruits into the Uganda Peoples Defense Forces (UPDF) must be Ugandan citizens with original identity cards (IDs) and are also required to obtain duly signed letters of recommendation from local administrators. In the latest recruitment, the government of Uganda targets to recruit 4,000 youth from all districts into the military as both professional and regular soldiers.