A 20-year-old man from Masindi District in Uganda has been arrested for allegedly attempting to bribe soldiers responsible for recruiting new members into the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF).
Emmanuel Kyakabaale Tayebwa, a 20-year-old resident of Kimengo, was arrested on Tuesday at the Masindi District offices, where the screening of applicants seeking to join the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) was taking place.
The young man had initially been disqualified from the recruitment process after failing to produce his secondary school certificate. He had presented a primary school completion certificate and a document showing his results from Senior Four.
He later showed the screening team a copy of a certificate that he had photographed and stored on his phone. However, the soldiers discovered that the names on his academic documents did not match those on his national identity card.
Brig. Rogers Kitwala, who was leading the recruitment exercise, said Kyakabaale gave 20,000 Ugandan shillings—slightly more than Rwf 7,000—to four soldiers responsible for verifying applicants’ documents.
Kyakabaale reportedly said the money was intended to buy water for the soldiers. He was immediately arrested and handed over to Masindi Police for further investigation.
The UPDF has warned prospective recruits against using forged documents, altering certificates, or attempting to bribe recruitment officials, saying those involved will be arrested and prosecuted in accordance with the law.
In Masindi alone, more than 40 applicants were disqualified from the military recruitment exercise due to issues including documentation problems, discrepancies in personal details, suspected forged documents, and medical reasons.
The UPDF plans to recruit 599 people from eight districts in the Bunyoro sub-region, namely Masindi, Hoima, Kiryandongo, Buliisa, Kibaale, Kagadi, Kakumiro, and Kikuube.
