A contingent of 529 UPDF troops who were part of the fifth United Nation Guard Unit (UNGU V) in Somalia and an additional 1,406 troops of Uganda’s 25th Battle Group to Somalia have returned to Uganda.
The peacekeeping troops were officially welcomed home on Friday by the Chief of Defence Forces (CDF), Gen David Muhoozi at a function was held at the UPDF Peace Support Operations and Training Center (PSO-TC) in Nakaseke district.
Gen Muhoozi commended the troops for raising the Ugandan ag high in the foreign missions from where they have just returned after serving for one year. He said Africa is still faced with many challenges that Africans must strive to resolve as a united people.
“It is in this spirit that we went to Somalia; extending a liberation struggle of Africa. A stable Somalia is a stable Africa,” Gen Muhoozi said. The General noted that Somalia is not very far away from any African country and what affects the country in a way affects all African countries.
He said the African Union intervention in Somalia was a wise undertaking that has positively paid off. “We are now counting successes in Somalia due to the selfless contribution made by you and your predecessors towards the betterment of the situation in the Horn of Africa.
Thank you for having Africa at heart,” said Gen Muhoozi. Despite challenges such as delayed payment of mission allowances due to circumstances beyond UPDF control, the troops have maintained their Pan African spirit and remained focused on their duty, Muhoozi said.
He noted that the model performance of UPDF in its internal and external operation stems from its exceptional qualities that also distinguishes the force from other armies.
“You serve in an extraordinary force that is distinguishable from other armies by its character, discipline and capabilities,” he said. Muhoozi stressed that no matter the situation, the UPDF troops have always maintained high morale, resilience and courage to overcome all odds even in moments when sceptics thought the force would not make it.
“Some people thought that since we were engaged in other operations like in Somalia we would not be able to respond to the call of condolence our brothers in South Sudan made on us.
Others expected us to respond in months but they were surprised that in one week our battle group was in Juba and we had changed the situation.”…..
Source: Softpower News
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