Museveni promotes 400 UPDF officers
Joram Mugume, promoted to Major General
KAMPALA- President Museveni has promoted about 400 army officers to various ranks, including 62 to the senior rank of Major and above.
Mr Museveni, who is also the Commander- in- Chief of the armed forces, made the changes in ranks upon recommendation of the army Promotions Board.
The promotions were announced on May 2, but the information became public only yesterday.
Brig Richard Karemire, the Defence and Military spokesman, said the elevations were an appreciation of the officers’ “excellent work” and successful completion of command courses.
“This is just [in] recognition of the officers after excellent work and those who have completed courses at the National Defence Colleges. It is also [in appreciation of] a job well done by the UPDF who have been engaged in Central African Republic against the LRA’s Joseph Kony,” he said.
Those promoted include Col Richard Otto who has been promoted to a Brigadier; a one-star general. He has been the Uganda Peoples Defence Forces (UPDF) contingent commander under the regional counter-offensive against the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), formally called the African Union Regional Task Force (AU-RTF).
The Ugandan and US militaries, citing LRA’s degraded military capability, announced last month that they were withdrawing troops from the mission even though Kony has not been captured or killed as envisaged.
Brig Karemire said the decision to withdraw was premised on the realisation that the “mission to neutralise the LRA has been successfully achieved”.
There were also other promotions, either due to excellence or long service in the military. Under the new promotions, the Managing Director of Defence Forces Shop, Brig John Mugume becomes a Major General while five other Colonels were promoted to Brigadier and variously posted as chiefs, commandant and defence attaché.
In total, 22 officers, among them 18 Lieutenant Colonels and four acting Colonels, were either promoted to, or confirmed as, full Colonels.
Some 33 officers at the rank of Major have been promoted to Lt Col after completing Senior Command and Staff College course.
Flavia Namakula, a Staff Sergeant, was promoted to Second Lieutenant because of “excellent performance in sports”, the army said.
Some 297 officers were made Lieutenants after completing their mandatory one-year probation as 2nd Lieutenants while up to 55 doctors, pharmacists and lawyers, “serving as professionals”, were also promoted.
