Army should include anger management in military training

Lt-Gen-Edward-Katumba-Wamala-Commander-Land-Forces

It seems like we are soon getting  into a stuation whereby whenever a soldier gets angry, the best thing to do is to take cover.

Of  late, that’s their own problem.

Recently, Private Steven Ajuna of the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) opened fire in a bar, Namba 263, located in Amber court market at around 10:00 pm wounding four people before killing himself. It is claimed that Ajuna had a quarrel with the bar owner’s wife, Olivia Nalubega who had advised his wife to report him to his bosses after failing to provide her with antenatal support.

It was after that argument that Ajuna went back to his house in the barracks and returned with an AK-47 rifle which he used to open fire.

Apart from Ajuna, there are many soldiers who have killed due to anger. Among them is Sergeant Isaac Obua, who shot and killed seven people, three children and four women including a fellow soldier on 16th june this year in Makindye military police barracks.

Another irate UPDF soldier was in Kikoona village in Mubende town council, Sgt Byamukama Jackson who killed his wife over money issues in 2014 among others.

I have always respected soldiers as our national heroes and defenders of our country’s security, peace and order but when they start to threaten the lives of our citizens, it makes me wonder where the military forces went wrong.

With the so many gun shooting incidences, it is very clear that many of our soldiers now days don’t know how to control their anger. Whenever they get hurt whether physically or emotionally, they just strike out without thinking of the consequences. Should we blame this on stress or is this the way our soldiers are trained.

If that is not the case, then I suggest our military schools and barracks train our soldiers in anger management. While they know how to shoot, it seems like they were not taught how to govern their anger especially when in a public community.

It is very true that for a soldier to win a war, he needs to direct his anger at his enemy but this does not apply in communities. Since they are the defenders of our country, they need to be taught to differentiate between a public and war setting and how to behave in both settings. Otherwise if this issue is not tackled, we may end up repeating Amin’s regime.

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