President Yoweri Mueveni will on Wednesday commission a UPDF infantry fighting vehicle assembly plant at the headquarters of National Enterprise Corporation (NEC).
The NEC, which is the commercial arm of the UPDF will collaborate with STREIT Group, which is world’s largest privately owned armoured vehicle manufacturer to make the fighting vehicles to be used in the UPDF’s military and peacekeeping operations in the region.
The army has been assembling the wagons at a small scale in Jinja and this will see UPDF ending the importation of these vehicles from South Africa.
According to sources, the assembly plant will later target the regional market and sell these fighting wagons to Uganda’s neighbours.
The commercial arm of the UPDF has become productive and profitable after President Yoweri Museveni appointed Lt Gen James Mugira.
Earlier, NEC had been making losses until 2012 when Lt Gen Mugira was transferred from Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence to General Manager of Luwero Industries and replaced Jackline Mbabazi, the wife of the former Prime Amama Mbabazi.
He was later in 2017 appointed the Managing Director of NEC which is the mother company of Luwero industries, NEC Construction and Engineering Works, NEC Uzima, NEC Farm Katonga and NEC Agro Ltd.
NEC was started by the government in 1989 to invest in agriculture, health care and services.
