This project report, a product of a four-year study explores how the military in Uganda is presented as one the accelerators of development. With a focus on key areas such as agriculture, fisheries, natural resources among others, it questions the viability and pitfalls of the strategy of militarization for sustainable development. It also assesses the role of key oversight institutions such as the police, judiciary and parliament which continue to be politically instrumental in this process of militarization.

The findings not only indicate a steady deployment of UPDF soldiers in key sectors but also a growing manifestation of militarization in the public sector. It exposes the impact of militarization on the economy including increased exclusion, inequality and poverty in affected communities, widening ethno military patrimonial networks, diminished accountability and civilian institutional ineffectiveness among others. Questions of institutional oversight, capacities and independence, the country’s political and human rights dynamics as well as livelihoods and sustainable inclusive development come to the fore.