Don’t retire the man —redeploy the experience

What the report says

The Independent Uganda published a commentary on August 21, 2026 arguing that former police, military and other security personnel remain an underused national resource after retirement. Written by Mathias Rukuba, the piece says service members often leave active duty with practical knowledge that can still help public and private security efforts, even if they are no longer suited to frontline or physically demanding tasks.

The article says many African countries face layered threats such as terrorism, organised crime, cybercrime, fraud, trafficking and community violence, while experienced officers and veterans are frequently lost to the system once they retire. It suggests that their value lies in operational judgment, mentorship and institutional memory, not only in uniformed deployment. As framed by the author, retired personnel could support training, investigations, emergency preparedness, site reviews, risk assessments, and crisis simulations.

The commentary also points to the private security sector as a key area where retired professionals could be formally engaged as trainers, consultants, auditors and supervisors. It further notes that communities could benefit from their expertise through lawful, supervised awareness and prevention efforts, while warning against any role that would place them outside legal authority. General background: many governments and companies globally use retired specialists in advisory or training capacities to preserve expertise and transfer it to younger staff.

Overall, the piece argues that retirement should end a person’s active uniformed role, but not their ability to contribute knowledge to security institutions, policymakers and communities.