Gen Benon Biraaro succumbs to colon cancer
Former Presidential candidate Maj. Gen (Rtd) Benon Biraaro Buta has died.
Gen Biraaro died on Wednesday morning at Kampala Hospital of colon cancer, a close family member told this reporter.
He was one of the presidential candidates in the 2016 general elections running on the ticket of his Farmers Party of Uganda.
In a press statement, Kampala Hospital said Gen Biraaro was admitted to the facility on February 6, 2020 and was receiving treatment care for advanced cancer of the colon.
While still in the active military, he served as the commandant of the Uganda Senior Command and Staff College in Kimaka, Jinja.
He was born on March 1, 1958 in Isingiro District. He attended Makerere University, in Kampala, Uganda's oldest and largest public university, graduating in 1982 with a Bachelor of Arts in political science. Later, he attended Cranfield University in the United Kingdom, graduating with a Masters in Global Strategic Studies.
During his presidential campaigns, Gen Biraaro accused Mr Museveni and his NRM party of failure to address poverty, adding that his presidency would treat it with urgency.
Responding to questions about his ability to lead the country, Gen Biraaro pointed at what he described as a clean track record that he has left in all the public offices he has held since 1986.
He had also promised to reduce on the size of Parliament, a process which he said would begin with the scrapping of army MPs saying they are supposed to be neutral.
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Gen Biraaro forms political party
Maj Gen (Rtd) Benon Biraaro has begun mobilising and recruiting people into a political party he has founded. Gen Biraaro said he hopes to officially register the party, Peace and National Unity (PNU), by July, in time for the 2016 general elections.
Benon Biraaro
Date of Birth. March 1, 1958
Education. Studied Political Science at Makerere University.
Junior Staff College with the British Military Training
Junior Command and Staff at Kaduma, Nigeria
Senior Command and Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, USA
Africa Strategic Studies at Abdu Nasser Military College, Cairo, Egypt
Masters in Global Security Studies at Cranfield University, UK
Work experience. Joined Bush war from Makerere University on June 7, 1982. He served in several capacities until he became Secretary to High Command and National Resistance Council 1984.
He deputised Mr Museveni’s Principle Private Secretary in 1986 before becoming the Kitgum District Special Administrator from 1986 to 1987. He also served as the Deputy Commandant Kyankwanzi Political School. He was also the Commanding Officer 97 Battalion in Eastern Uganda that ended the insurgency in Samia, Teso.
He was also the commander Military Police as well as the military representative in the IGG’s office
Gen Biraaro was the director of training that led the Uganda contingent to DRC in 1998.
He later became the commander of the Infantry Division in western Uganda. He was also assistant Chief of Staff, UPDF
He founded and commanded for two in-takes at army college in Kimaka.
