The Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces on Wednesday commissioned a 400‑seat auditorium at the International Peace Support Operations Training Centre (IPSO‑TC) located at Singo in Nakasongola . The facility was built by the United States under its Global Peace Operations Initiative (GPOI).
GPOI director Phillip Palmer handed the keys to UPDF Chief of Joint Staff Lt Gen Jack Bakasumba, who said the complex “raises our training capacity for regional peace and counter‑terrorism missions.” Washington’s support for IPSO‑TC began in 2007 and now includes classrooms, barracks and equipment used to prepare Ugandan battalions for deployments in Somalia, DR Congo and beyond.
IPSO‑TC commandant Brig Gen John Patrick Otongo praised Ugandan and U.S. Army Corps engineers for finishing the project that he and Bakasumba first proposed in 2018. The new hall will host pre‑deployment briefings, multinational staff courses and peace‑support simulations.
U.S. defence attaché Lt Col Chris Noumba called the building “a brick‑and‑mortar symbol of our defence partnership and Uganda’s frontline role in global peacekeeping.”
Senior officers from UPDF Training & Doctrine, the Non‑Commissioned Officers Academy and the Land Force directorate witnessed the ribbon‑cutting alongside officials from the U.S. embassy’s security‑co‑operation office.
The auditorium will be in use next week for an African Union staff‑planning course.
