The 1995 Constitution of Uganda provides for freedom of speech, expression of opinion but this is not the case with the UPDF soldiers.

A senior army officer in UPDF rang one of our informers this morning and wondered why the commander in chief of Uganda’s armed forces reportedly put standing orders that restrain soldiers from speaking to the media without authorization.

The officer said that even if they serve in the army they remain with a right to give an opinion, to speak to the press and or to tell the world what do not go down well in the army. The senior army officer asked journalists to discredit this standing order until it is scrapped.

The soldier told us that the standing orders are that ‘whoever speaks to the press without authorization risks dismissal from the army with disgrace and or imprisonment.