Uganda: Warfare - General Okiding Calls for Enhanced Intelligence-Led Operations

What the report says

Uganda’s Deputy Chief of Defence Forces, Lt Gen Sam Okiding, urged African militaries to strengthen intelligence-led, coordinated and proactive operations that go beyond conventional warfare. According to The Independent in Kampala, he made the remarks in Munyonyo, Kampala, during the opening of the Chiefs of Defence Intelligence and Security meeting, which formed part of the inaugural African Chiefs of Defence Forces Conference on “Military Operations Other Than War.”

Okiding said the region’s security environment is changing and that operations outside traditional combat are becoming central to national and regional security planning. He pointed to a wide set of threats and pressures, including humanitarian crises, terrorism, transnational organized crime, irregular migration and climate-related effects, arguing that intelligence and planning are essential for both kinetic and non-kinetic responses.

He also called on African states to modernize equipment, rethink training and adopt more systematic responses to emerging risks. In his view, resilience should be built over time rather than through one-off measures. He said the conference should help shape how African forces respond jointly to evolving security challenges and urged participants to keep the continent’s interests and public welfare at the center of their decisions.

The opening session drew senior Ugandan military officials, delegates from other African countries and representatives of the African Union and regional bodies. More broadly, the meeting reflects a growing continental focus on security cooperation and on how armed forces can respond to threats that sit alongside, but are not limited to, conventional conflict.