The Chief of Defence Forces (CDF), Gen. Wilson Mbadi, has tasked Resident District Commissioners (RDCs), Resident City Commissioners (RCCs) and their Deputies to maintain good relations with civilians for them to succeed.
In a message read for him by the UPDF Chief Political Commissar, Maj. Gen. Henry Masiko, during their ongoing orientation retreat at the National Leadership Institute (NALI), Kyankwanzi, today, Gen. Mbadi said the Commissioners should pick a leaf from the UPDF that has managed to put civil – military relations into practice.
He said that for UPDF, civil-relations are a historical revolutionary method of work from the early times of FRONASA (Front for National Salvation), National Resistance Army (NRA) to now UPDF.
As with UPDF, the CDF said good civil-military relations will help RDCs and RCCs to foster harmony and understanding between them and the civilians.
“Civil Military Cooperation (CIMIC) is the coordination and cooperation, in support of the mission between the Commander and civil actors, including the national population and local authorities, as well as international, national and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and agencies. It helps to create conducive conditions for peace in the area of operation,” Gen. Mbadi asserted.
The CDF said that through CIMIC, security leaders such as RDCs and RCCs are able to coordinate with civilians, a factor that helps to avoid duplication of efforts and wastage of scarse resources, prevents competition as well as minimising inconsistency in the country.
“Good civil-military relations creates trust and acceptance by the civilians thus helping the authorities to have successful operations. On the other hand, CIMIC facilities mutual support of civilian capabilities to military forces and vice versa. Most LDU bases are being hosted by locals freely and also providing utilities,” Gen. Mbadi stated.
“The UPDF policy is to enhance our strategic relationship with the people because it derives its power from the people.”
On his part, Maj. Gen. Masiko urged Commissioners to always undertake ideological orientation, saying it’s a necessity to all leaders in general.
“Ideological orientation for this matter is a function of knowledge. It’s a booster. Continuous ideological education fortifies one’s mind against the possibility of losing focus. Like a booster vaccine, it strengthens one’s immunity against ideological confusion,” Gen Masiko said.
“The ideological package must be dynamic. Orientation entails constant interpretation and articulation of the changes in the socio-economic aspects of a country. Leaders ought to keep abreast of what is happening, and in turn explain to their followers. Leaders finally must embrace tested progressive discipline and methods of work.”
He asked the inductees to remain down-to-earth in dealing with the population.
Another facilitator, Lt. Col. Emmanuel Katabazi, the Deputy Director General of Internal Security Organisation (ISO) lectured the Commissioners about the role of intelligence in supporting efforts of the RDCs and RCCs in performance of their duties in the larger context of national stability and protection of the revolution.
He told the commissioners that in order to successfully carry out performance audits of Government programs, they must first rely on intelligence information that will point out for them where the real problem in the implementation cycle could be.
“Therefore, as we protect the State, we should also ensure that our people are secure from the other threats that undermine their livelihoods. This is only possible if you focus on the performance audits of Government policies, programmes and projects because if implemented successfully, the journey to the desired prosperity of our people would be accomplished easily,” Lt. Col. Katabazi said.
“Performance audits entail carrying out independent follow up of the implementation of Government programs to assess whether they are achieving their intended objectives of effectiveness, compliance and proper utilisation of resources especially funds. However, you cannot achieve these objectives without the relevant intelligence information on what is going on,” he added.
He also assured the RDCs and RCCs that the structures for supporting them to carry out successful audits of Government programs exist and should be utilised maximally.
“What is important is harmonious working relationships among the operators in the established structures to achieve the common strategic goal of our country.”
He urged the Commissioners to work closely with District Internal Security Officers (DISOs) and regularly hold District Security Committee (DSC) meetings.
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