Kampala — THE army has clarified that the Acholi can get armed through organised groups like the Local Defence Force Units (LDUs).

Army spokesman Maj. Shaban Bantariza yesterday said the government cannot give guns to civilians as Agago MP Ogenga-Latigo had suggested.

He said the MP's statement was misleading to say all the Acholi be armed to fight the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA).

"We can only arm LDUs, as a regular force that is organised and directly commanded by the government forces (UPDF)," Bantariza said.

"We are going to have an Acholi training scheme on security and the people will tell us how they want us to do it. I don't want someone like an MP saying arm Acholi without specifying how it should be carried out.

"It is very dangerous to arm anybody in a disorganised way. If you do that, you may end up either sparking off a new rebel group or supplying extra arms to the LRA rebels," he added.

Gulu municipality MP and chairman of the Acholi Parliamentary Group, Norbert Mao, yesterday said he supports the idea of recruiting homeguards to supplement the UPDF efforts against Kony rebels. Ends