6 detained during UPDF recruitment for alleged impersonation

Nebbi, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Six applicants were on Wednesday, 13th August 2025, detained at Nebbi police station during the UPDF recruitment exercise in Nebbi district for alleged impersonation, while others with mismatched particulars on their documents were dismissed.

The UPDF Public Information Officer (PIO) for the West Nile region, Lt. Nasser Mene, says the suspects, accused of possessing fake documents during the recruitment exercise, are being held at Nebbi police station pending further investigations. He adds that this round of recruitment, conducted through online applications, reduced some irregularities compared to past exercises, though minor cases were still reported at the recruitment center.

“In the past, high-ranking officers in the force and politicians could make phone calls to recruitment teams for their relatives to be fixed using shortcuts, but this time it was quite hard because applicants applied through online portals, which made lobbying difficult,” Mene said.

Out of 108 shortlisted applicants from Nebbi and Zombo districts, 73 reported for physical and medical assessments, while two applicants collapsed during the warm-up exercise. Robert Abak, the Nebbi  Resident District Commissioner, blamed parents for allowing their sons and daughters to use academic papers belonging to relatives after the rightful applicants failed to show up for interviews.

“We had cases where applicants produced academic documents with mismatched particulars on national IDs, which caused the arrest of some applicants,” Abak said. He added that other applicants failed to produce original academic papers, leading to their disqualification from joining the UPDF. Some had reportedly hired out their academic papers to relatives seeking employment in private security companies.

Allan Mungufeni, one of the applicants, said he was shortlisted but turned down at the recruitment center for failing to produce his PLE result slip. “I traveled 73 km from Madi-Okollo with hopes of joining UPDF, but my offer was turned down for lacking my PLE result slip,” Mungufeni said.

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