Brig Tumukunde promoted, then retired

Kampala.

President Museveni has promoted former Chief of Military Intelligence (CMI) Brigadier Henry Tumukunde to the rank of Lieutenant General and retired him from the army.
Lt Gen Tumukunde, also former Director General of Internal Security Organisation (ISO), has skipped the rank of major general in the promotion that is seen as reconciliation between him and President Museveni.

The bush war hero fell out of favour with the establishment in 2005 and was forced to resign as army MP after he openly expressed his opposition to the lifting of presidential term limits from the Constitution to allow Mr Museveni run for a third term.

The charges for which he was arraigned in court-martial on May 30, 2005 are in connection with a 2005 radio talk show he participated in where he allegedly criticised President Museveni’s leadership and lifting of presidential term limits. He was subsequently arrested, placed under house arrest for two years, charged and court martialled. The court martial case took over seven years before he was sentenced to serious caution. But the Supreme Court in 2008 ruled that he was unlawfully dismissed from Parliament.

The army spokesperson, Lt Col Paddy Ankunda, yesterday confirmed Tumukunde’s promotion and retirement in a tweet: “Yes, Brig Tumukunde is now Lt Gen and retired from the army.”
Sources close to Gen Tumukunde said he was happy about his retirement. “It has been long overdue and he is happy about his retirement,” the source said.

The message for his promotion was sent yesterday by the Chief of Defence Forces, Gen Katumba Wamala, who was reportedly out of the country.

Officer waiting
The army is yet to retire former intelligence Chief David Tinyefuuza, who returned from exile and is now a critic of government although he is viewed by some sections of society as a mole.

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