The Uganda People’s Defense Forces maintain 10 legislators in the august house. Article 78 Sub-section (I) Clause (c) said there will be in the Parliament such numbers of the representatives of the army, youth, workers, persons with disabilities and other groups as the Parliament may determine. But the force’s continued stay in the Parliament continued to be challenged especially after Uganda decided to open up the political space in 2005. Well as the UPDF is by law and also claimed to be none partisan, all its legislators sit on the NRM side in the chamber. They have also been seen to vote for and support NRM position during debates. Matters were not helped when the State Minister for Privatization and Investment Evelyn Anite, claimed last week that the army supported the removal of the Presidential age limit from the Constitution, claims immediately denied by the forces. “Because if they are looking for support, for us we don’t go looking for support. We are the party in government, we have the support of the magye.” “The UPDF will never take sides.”

But Crispy Kaheru the Coordinator of the Citizens’ Coalition for Electoral Democracy in Uganda, army legislators are caught between the rock and a hard place. “Once you enter Parliamentary or legislative politics then you have entered the rime of partisan politics. Because the decisions that are made in the Parliament are not only made on the basis of a bi-partisan legislative body, some of them are made on the basis of political parties or political party persuasion.” Most of the army MPs traced their background to the NRA bush war. Gen. Elly Tumwine a decorated war hero, for instance, serving his fifth term in office. On Thursday he got emotional as Minister Isaac Musumba moved a motion thanking Speaker Rebecca Kadaga for having expelled Opposition legislators accused of defying the sanctity of the Parliament on Tuesday. “I stand to support the motion that after the storm, there’s calm.”

Kaheru equipped that there was need to revisit the role of special interest groups in the Parliament to separate institution like the army from partisan politics. “I think over the years, it is increasingly clear that the role of special interest groups in Uganda’s Parliament needs to be subjected to a re-examination and this is partly because....” Army spokesperson Brig. Richard Kalemire however insisted that the UPDF representatives were expected to remain none partisan in the conduct of their duties. “We will never deviate from that, we are totally none partisan force as provided for in our Constitution.”