By Emma Mutaizibwa, KAMPALA Uganda
It has taken years of planning, recruiting, and
deploying strategically, but finally, everyone, or almost everyone, of the
rebel National Resistance Army old guard has been shoved to the side-lines or
retired. President Museveni talking to his son at State House Nakasero
The old NRA bush war-dominated order has been swept
away and replaced by younger Turks; first from the 1985 late Brigadier Noble
Mayombo group, then the 1997 Monduli group of Brig Ddamulira Sserunjogi, the
Gaddafi School of Infantry cadet group and First Son Lt. Gen Muhoozi
Kainerugaba group that trained at Kaweweta.
The young Turks have now taken charge of the army –
completing a transformative change believed to be the sure path to the survival
of the UPDF and will ultimately produce a successor to
President Museveni.The planning and recruitment happened years ago but the
deployment is still ongoing until a successor emerges.
The Muhoozi group is inching its way to the apex.
Muhoozi, who is now the commander of Land Forces is one job away (Chief of
Defence Forces) from becoming a full five-star general and taking complete
charge of UPDF.
And an army of loyalists is helping to whip up the
presidential ambition of the First Son, who is yet to express interest in
replacing his father Yoweri Museveni as president of Uganda. The general’s
loyalists have launched an aggressive social media campaign for a 2026
presidential bid for Muhoozi a year into President Museveni’s new term.
Lt. Gen Muhoozi is many things to his legion of
youthful supporters – he is the next president, he is presidential material,
chairman MK, Gen Muhoozi my role model. All these and many other credentials
are boldly inscribed on branded T-shirts, jumpers, caps, shirts, and posters
printed, distributed, and worn by his legion of supporters – loudly touting
Muhoozi’s leadership prowess.
A bold poster has been printed and proclaims, “For
peace, unity, transparency and supersonic development, Vote President Muhoozi
Kainerugaba 2026-2031.”
The planning for the takeover from the old guard
and recruitment began years ago with an eye on the future. Here is how it was
done. The story below was published by The Observer on January
8, 2012 when it was too early to make these bold predictions about the current
shape of the army but some have already hit the mark. It has been furnished
with some edits, which reflect the current stature of the principals mentioned
in the story.
Young Turks in the UPDF have recently dominated the
higher echelons, underscoring a shift in the balance of power of an army that
has been controlled by those who shared the trenches with President Yoweri
Museveni during the Luweero bush struggle. Since bands of the ragtag guerilla
outfit marched to Kampala on January 26, 1986, the UPDF leadership appeared to
be held hostage by the Luweero bush-struggle camaraderie.
There has, however, been a realignment in the army,
resulting in the shoving aside of the old guard by an elite younger generation
that is loyal to the Commander-in-Chief. Today, old guards like Generals Salim
Saleh, who is Museveni’s brother, David Tinyefuza and Elly Tumwine are in the
twilight of their careers.
A military source says perhaps the last officers of
this old order that are still serving but will soon retire, include: Lt Gen
Katumba Wamala (commander, Land Forces), Lt Gen Kale Kayihura (Inspector
General of Police), and Maj Gen Fred Mugisha (overall commander of AMISOM in
Somalia).
“Any one of them could become the Chief of Defence
Forces after Aronda Nyakairima,” the source added.
Katumba Wamala and Kayihura have since stepped
aside at the rank of general. Katumba became the CDF in 2013 replacing Gen.
Aronda Nyakairima. He was removed in 2017. He is now the minister of Works.
However, in the last decade, a latent power
struggle in the army between the old guards and young Turks has burbled under
the surface.
“There is the late Mayombo group, which joined the
army in 1985 and has tilted the balance of power in the army,” said another
military source.
The late Brig Noble Mayombo, who died of a
mysterious ailment on May 1, 2007, was one of the most eloquent functionaries
of the NRM regime whose rapid rise in the army rattled the old guard,
especially those who had stagnated for a long time. Mayombo’s other colleagues
who joined the struggle in 1985 shortly before the NRA captured power are Maj
Gen James Mugira (who was recently transferred from the Chieftaincy of Military
Intelligence [CMI] to head the UPDF Luwero ammunition industries), Brig Moses
Rwakitarate (the Chief of Staff Airforce) and Brig David Muhoozi (now heading
the air defense unit in Nakasongola).
The three have since been promoted and redeployed.
Lt. Gen Mugira is now the managing director, National Enterprise Corporation.
Major General Rwakitarate is the Defence Attache at Uganda’s embassy in
Brussels, Belgium. General David Muhoozi relinquished his command of UPDF
(Chief of Defence Forces) recently and is now the minister of state for
Internal Affairs.
Although they are greenhorns at the battlefront,
Mugira and Muhoozi are lawyers, as was Mayombo. Whilst the young Turks have
been growing in stature, old guards like Major Generals Jim Muhwezi and Kahinda
Otafiire, Brigadiers (now Major General) Matayo Kyaligonza and (now Lt.
General) Henry Tumukunde, and others who once held powerful positions in the
army have less clout and leverage.
“They only have protégés in the army, but their
power is increasingly diminishing,” said a source.
Mwambustya Ndebesa, a historian at Makerere
University, says “purging the old guard, which has legitimacy because of a
historical role, is the best tool of control.”
He adds that having been “recruited on the premise
of patronage” the old guard has “expired.”
A source currently serving in the army concurs with
Ndebesa, opining that, “It’s the only way to eliminate the old bush war
rivalry.”
Beyond the 1985 group, the other young generation
strategically placed in sensitive army positions consists of Brig Paul Lokech,
who is currently heading Uganda’s AMISOM contingent in Somalia, and Brig
Charles Bakahumura, the new CMI head. Others are Col Dick Olum, who is heading
the Military Police; Col Godfrey Golooba, who headed the second UPDF AMISOM
contingent; and Col Emmanuel Kazahura, administrative officer at the Senior
Staff and Command College, Kimaka.
These too have grown in rank and stature. Lokech
died a major general and Deputy Inspector General of Police in 2020.
Others are Lt Col James Birungi, head of the artillery
in UPDF; Lt Col Henry Isoke, former head of counterintelligence at CMI and now
AMISOM intelligence officer; Lt Col Michael Nyarwa, head of the UPDF Marine
Unit; and Lt Col Godwin Karugaba, deputy chief of Logistics and Engineering.
This list of other strategically placed soldiers includes; Col Dominic
Twesigomwe, the CMI deputy boss who is now attending a military course at the
National Defence College, Kenya; and army publicists Col Felix Kulayigye and
Lieutenant Colonels Paddy Ankunda and Barigye Bahoku.
Lt. Col James Birungi has since moved two ranks to Major General and currently heads CMI; Lt Col Henry Isoke is a brigadier heading the State House Anti-Corruption Unit. Lt Col Micheal Nyarwa climbed to the rank of Brigadier and still heads the marine unit; while Lt Col Godwin Karugaba maintains his rank. Col. Dominic Twesigomwe is a brigadier and commandant of the National Counter Terrorism Defence Center. Colonel Felix Kulayigye has since become a brigadier, Lt Col Paddy Ankunda is now a Colonel and so is Colonel Barigye Bahoku.
But another army source says there are about three
groups of a much younger generation compared to the ‘Mayombo 1985 group’ that
will provide the future UPDF leadership. One of these groups attended a cadet
course in Munduli, Tanzania.
“Intake 37 went to Munduli in 1997 and some of the
soldiers in this group are: Lt Col Ddamulira Sserunjogi, director Intelligence,
Land Forces; Maj CD Mukasa, intelligence officer, first division; Maj Julius
Rubakuba, intelligence officer 2nd division and brother to Brig Muhoozi; and Lt
Col Bob Ogik, director of the Senior Staff and Command College, Kimaka,” the
source revealed.
Lt Col Ddamulira Sserunjogi is now a brigadier and
director of Crime Intelligence in Police. Lt Col Bob Ogik is a Brig Gen and
Chief of Staff, Land forces.
Later, another cadet group attended the Gaddafi
School of Infantry, including Maj Stuart Agaba, former Aide de Camp to the
president, now in Somalia; Maj Felix Bishorozi, OC. Special Coy Special Forces
Group; and Capt Napoleon Namanya, head of Museveni’s inner-security circle.
Others are: Lt Col Emmanuel Ankunda, political commissar fifth division; Lt Col
Chris Ogumiraki, Somalia contingent political commissar; Maj Ephraim Mugume,
the military assistant to the Joint Chief of Staff, Maj Gen Robert Rusoke.
Others are Maj Tanturano Tumuryanze, the chief
instructor at Kabamba; Col Tumusiime Katsigazi, a lawyer who heads the Moi
Brigade in Nakasongala; and Lt Col Johnson Namanya, a former journalist with
The Monitor (now Daily Monitor), who is the administrative officer in charge of
the UPDF industries in Luweero.
Maj Stuart Agaba is now a colonel attached to SFC;
Maj Felix Busizoori is now a brigadier and commander, SFC; Capt Napoleon
Namanya is a colonel now and director of operations in Military Police; Lt
Col Chris Ogumiraki is now Vice Chairperson of the Board of Directors Wazalendo
SACCO, and Maj Ephraim Mugume is now a brigadier. Col Tumusiime Katsigazi, is a
Major General now and Deputy Inspector General of Police; Lt Col Johnson
Namanya, is a brigadier and Commissioner for Citizenship and Passport Control.
Lastly, there is the group that trained and
graduated alongside First Son, Col Muhoozi Kainerugaba, who heads the Special
Forces Group (SFG). These soldiers, most of them fresh and effervescent
Makerere University graduates, trained at Kaweweta and Kabamba and completed
their cadet course at the Gaddafi School of Infantry.
They include Muhoozi’s deputy, Lt Col Sabiiti Magyenyi;
Lt Col Dan Kakono, the commanding officer of the tank battalion in SFG; and Maj
Charity Bainababo, who is the ADC to the First Lady.
Others are Capt Allan Matsiko, in charge of
Counterintelligence, SFG; Capt Nabimanya, an intelligence officer in SFG; and
Capt Michael Kanyamunyu, in charge of the Special Investigations Bureau, SFG.
Lt Col Sabiiti Magyenyi is now a major general
currently managing Luweero Industries; Lt Col Dan Kakono, is now a brigadier
and commander of the Artillery 101 Brigade; Maj Charity Bainababo is a colonel
now and an army representative in the 10th parliament (Editor).
It is this closely-knit group that holds a
semblance of loyalty to Muhoozi. However, asked whether Muhoozi is the de facto
Chief of Defence Forces, an army officer who graduated alongside the First Son
said: “Muhoozi, like any other soldier, follows the chain of command and takes
orders from above.”
Another source said Muhoozi “is disciplined and
does not engage in intrigue.” Nonetheless, controversy continues to swirl over
Muhoozi’s military career, with critics arguing that he is poised to succeed
his father and that just like the archetypal father-son military regimes,
Muhoozi’s role in the army will one day catapult him to the presidency when
Museveni retires. But other critics claim regional imbalance remains the
Achilles’ heel of the army.
Most officers of the army’s top and middle ranks
hail from western Uganda, Museveni’s home area. A soldier who requested not to
be named says: “Many of us are unhappy, but we cannot
freely speak out on this subject”.
Ndebesa argues that unless the army adopts the
identity of a national character, the UPDF largely looks like a personal army.
“A professional army should be loyal to a country
rather than an individual. The fundamental question is; if Museveni leaves,
will they accept another Commander-in-Chief — because this appears to be a
personal army,” Ndebesa says.
However, a serving officer says: “In the dynamics
of Uganda’s military struggle, loyalty, like religion, is absolute and it
supersedes any other element.”
Army spokesperson Col Felix Kulayigye scoffed at
these claims, insisting that the tribal card does not exist in the army.
Labeling it “an old, stale story”, Kulayigye cited Gen Jeje Odongo, Maj Gen
Guti, and Brig Otema who are all high-ranking non-western army officials.
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