GEN. SEJUSA: Who will replace him? The former Coordinator of Intelligence services will be replaced as army MP after missing over 15 Parliament sittings. KAMPALA The process to replace runaway UPDF General David Sejusa aka Tinyefuza as Army MP, has officially started. Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga last week referred the matter to the Rules Committee of the House after the General missed over 15 sittings. The committee will conduct a hearing where Gen Sejusa will either appear in person or be represented by his lawyers. The committee will then present a report to the whole house, which will debate the proposals, among which will most likely be the need to replace him. If that proposal is upheld, the army will then write to the Electoral Commission to set a date for a by-election. According to UPDF rules, Gen Katumba Wamala, the Chief of Defence Forces, will nominate the candidates and forward the names to President Museveni for approval. The President then forwards the names to the UPDF Defence Council for voting. The Defence Council comprises members of the UPDF Historical High Command, five division commanders, three service commanders (Special Forces Commander, Land Forces Commander and Air Force Commander) and Brigade and Battalion commanders. In a recent interview, the UPDF deputy spokesperson, Maj Robert Ngabirano, said the candidates are identified and vetted by intelligence and the political commissariat. “There is no campaigning. Our representatives in Parliament are identified through our defence system,” he said. After speaking to several UPDF officers who have a clue about the election process, the following candidates seem to emerge as front-runners to replace Gen Sejusa in Parliament. Maj Gen David Muhoozi The commander of Land Forces turned 48 last Friday. Before being posted to oversee the infantry forces in May this year, Maj Gen Muhoozi had commanded the Air Defence Division for two years. He joined the NRA Bush War in 1985 and was commissioned as an officer in 1989. A professional lawyer, who also holds a Masters degree in International Relations, Maj Gen Muhoozi has a raft of qualifications and trainings to his name. He attended the Royal Defence College UK in 2007, the Senior Command and Staff College Ghana in 2005, Company Command course in Monduli, Tanzania and several others at Kimaka, Jinja. The quest to perfect his military knowledge has also seen him study courses in Israel, China and Carlifornia, USA where he did a Senior International Defence course at Naval Post-graduate School. Maj Gen Muhoozi is also battle-hardened. In 2002, he commanded the 53 Battalion in Beni, DR Congo and a year earlier he had commanded the 19th Battalion in the same area. In 1989, he served as a platoon commander before becoming an instructor at Jinja School of Infantry. His legal skills were put to use between 1996 and 1997 when he worked as a defence counsel at the General Court Martial. Col Felix Kulayigye (Chief Political Commissar) Before he was elevated to the position of UPDF Chief Political Commissar in May, Col Kulayige had been the longest-serving army spokesperson. As army publicist, Col Kulayigye was a darling of the media, who perceived him as approachable and affable. A witty debater, Col Kulayigye has a deep grasp of economic and political happenings. The bubbly soldier joined the army in 1989 after graduating with a Bachelor of Education degree from Makerere University. He also has a Masters degree in Economic Policy and Planning from the same university. He has risen steadily in army ranks having begun from the Presidential Press Unit. He once served as aide de camp to then Col Kahinda Otafiire, now justice minister. When he became captain, Kulayigye was sent to northern Uganda where he had a brief stint in command. He also attended the Senior Command and Staff College in at Karen, Nairobi. Maj Gen Fred Mugisha Those close to him say Gen Mugisha is a strict disciplinarian. In May this year, he was named coordinator of the yet to be operationalised National Anti-terrorism Centre after he was dropped as Joint Chief of Staff. Before that, the 50-year-old soldier had commanded the African Union forces in Somalia. Maj Gen Mugisha also commanded the Artillery Division in Masindi and at one time deputised Brig Noble Mayombo at the military intelligence. Maj Gen Mugisha has attended several courses in USSR, USA, India, China, Egypt, South Africa and Tanzania. He also has authored books including one examining causes and dynamics of conflicts in the Great Lakes region. Maj Gen Pecos Kutesa Of the lot, he is the most senior, having served in the military for over 30 years. Currently holding the portfolio of Chief of Doctrine in the UPDF, Maj Gen Kutesa is a combination of intellect, liberalism and experience. He joined the NRA Bush War in March 30, 1981, a year after he had done the cadet course in Munduli, Tanzania. After the NRA took over power in 1986, he was deployed in northern Uganda to command operations against the LRA rebels. He was, however, recalled later and remained undeployed until 2009 when he was promoted to Brigadier and placed in charge of the chieftaincy of UPDF doctrine. His book, Uganda’s Revolution 1979-1986: How I Saw It, received rave reviews. The graduate of Political Science from Makerere University is married to Dora and the couple, in 2012, went public on NTV about the struggle they had gone through to help Kutesa replace his liver. Brig Muhoozi Kainerugaba The First Son is head of the elite Special Forces Command, which guards the President and other key security installations. A graduate of Political Science from Nottingham University in the UK, he was formally commissioned as an officer in 2000 after a year’s cadet course at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, UK. An old boy of St. Mary’s College, Kisubi, Brig Muhoozi has attended an array of military colleges. He did the Executive National Security programme at the National Defence College, South Africa, undertook the Command and General Staff course at Fort Leavenworth Kansas – USA, was in North Korea for a Tank Crew and Command course, went to Egypt for a Battalion Command course and locally, at Kasenyi, did a counter-terrorism course. The 39-year-old has also been in charge of combat readiness in PPU where he also commanded the unit’s motorised infantry. He was at the battle-front as second-in-command when the UPDF in 2008 tried to capture rebel leader Joseph Kony in Operation Lightning Thunder, conducted in the jungles of Garamba. 1 | 2 Next Page»
Posted on: Mon, 30 Sep 2013 06:27:49 +0000
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