joined the National Resistance Army (NRA) in 1982. He fought in the Ugandan Bush War, eventually becoming commander of the Uganda People’s Defence Force (UPDF). Under Uganda’s hybrid system, General Aronda also held a seat in Parliament from 1996 as a representative of the UPDF. Figure 25. General Aronda Nyakairima, centre, a decorated leader of the UPDF. (Source: United States Army Africa (SETAF) Official Image Archive. Despite the presence of the military in Ugandan political life, it was a controversial decision to appoint General Aronda as Minister of Internal Affairs in 2013. At the time he was still serving as the Chief of Defence Forces of the UPDF, which the constitution calls on to be a non-partisan body.158 General Aronda’s nomination to a cabinet position led one former MP to say, “Even if this regime claims to be civilian; that is by pretence, its true nature is military.”159 A few MPs even boycotted the plenary session confirming his appointment and lodged a complaint in the Constitutional Court. Nevertheless, General Aronda was appointed. One of General Aronda’s most urgent orders of business was to revive the national ID project, still operating under the name of the National Security Information System (NSIS) Project. Under the guidance of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the NSIS maintained a heavy national security focus, with another member of the armed forces, Colonel Stephen Kwiringira—who had previously been responsible for the Information Technology department in the UPDF—nominated to lead the project.160 In a 2015 interview, General Aronda emphasized the importance of the project, saying, “This is a way to monitor and know where people are. It is another element to be added on to our arsenal of security weapons.”161 The priority of the NSIS was to register Ugandans ages 16 and older in anticipation of the 2016 election.162 To do this, they launched a mass registration campaign under the slogan, “My Country, My Uganda.” This was described on the floor of Parliament as “a citizenship verification process” that was “purely technical” and “had nothing to do with political parties.”163 The project started out relatively successfully, managing to register the personal details and biometric information of over 16 million Ugandans in its first year of How a National Security Approach to Uganda’s National Digital ID Has Led to Wholesale Exclusion of Women and Older Persons 65