Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2024, published 113rd ILC session (2025)

Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - Uganda (Ratification: 1963)

Articles 1(1) and 2(1) of the Convention. Freedom of career military officers to leave their service. The Committee notes the Government’s repeated indication that, pursuant to section 28(1) of the Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces (Conditions of Service) (Officers) Regulations, the application to resign may be accepted or refused by the Commissions Board, chaired by the Chief of Defence Forces, which decides whether to grant the retirement or not within 90 days. The Committee observes that the Government refers to new guidelines allowing officers aged 50 to voluntarily apply for retirement but does not provide information on resignation requests submitted by military personnel. The Committee recalls that career members of the armed forces, who have voluntarily engaged in the armed forces, should enjoy fully the right to leave their service in peacetime at their own request, within a reasonable period, either at specified intervals or with previous notice. The Committee once again requests the Government to provide information on the criteria used by the Commissions Board for accepting or rejecting a request for resignation from career personnel of the armed forces during peacetime, as well as on the number of requests for resignation that have been submitted, the number of refusals and the grounds for such refusals. It also requests the Government to provide a copy of the applicable provisions in this area.