P. Sarojini
Uganda (CWBN)_ Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni reappointed his elder son, Lt Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, as the head of the Special Forces Command of Uganda, an elite regiment in charge of protecting the president and the first family.
Gen Kainerugaba studied at the British Academy Sandhurst and other military programs in the US, Egypt and South Africa and had a meteoric rise through the ranks of the army. Gen Kainerugaba also serves as presidential counsellor on special operations, and after more than a decade, resumes his role as head of the command of special forces. This change is part of a larger reorganization within security agencies.
Maj Gen Paul Lokech, the former head of Uganda’s military operations in Somalia, will become Deputy Chief of Police. He was praised in 2011 and 2012 for performance in the battle against al-Shabab.
Maj Gen Sabiiti Muzeeyi, the man who supervised recent violence in Kampala and the deaths of over 50 people following the arrest of presidential candidate Bobi Wine, was reassigned to the military headquarters for redeployment. This reorganization is done less than a month before what is supposed to be a hotly fought presidential election in which President Museveni expects to stretch his rule to four decades.
Over the past few weeks, the Ugandan government faced heavy condemnation with threats of US sanctions against some senior security officials following the deaths. However, during the protests, a senior minister defended the actions of the security agencies.
