Museveni appoints Kandiho new police chief of joint staff
Maj Gen Abel Kandiho has been appointed as the new Chief of Joint Staff of Uganda Police Force. PHOTO/ COURTESY
What you need to know:
- While handing over CMI office, he said: “I want to clear this; this is a normal transfer and I have left without any bad record. Thank you Mr President for the new appointment and I will perform to the best of my knowledge and ability."
- His removal from CMI came days after a highly-billed visit to Rwanda by Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the UPDF Land Forces commander.
President Musevemi has appointed former Chief of Military Intelligence, Maj Gen Abel Kandiho, as the new Chief of Joint Staff of Uganda Police Force.
Maj Gen Kandiho replaces Maj Gen Jack Bakasumba who has been appointed the Ugandan Delegate to the South Sudan Peace Monitoring Mechanism.
“H.E the President and C -in- C of the UPDF has appointed Maj Gen Abel Kandiho as Chief of Joint Staff of Uganda Police Force replacing Maj Gen Jack Bakasumba who has been appointed the Ugandan Delegate to the South Sudan Peace Monitoring Mechanism,” UPDF tweeted on Tuesday evening.
The development comes four days after Maj Gen Kandiho, on February 4, handed over the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI) office to Maj Gen James Birungi.
Kandiho was removed from CMI office last month and had been posted to South Sudan as the head of security monitoring mechanism.
While handing over CMI office, he said: “I want to clear this; this is a normal transfer and I have left without any bad record. Thank you Mr President for the new appointment and I will perform to the best of my knowledge and ability."
His removal from CMI came days after a highly-billed visit to Rwanda by Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the UPDF Land Forces commander.
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Maj Gen Jack Bakasumba
Kigali had been citing and demanding the removal of Maj Gen Kandiho. It claimed that under his watch, CMI operatives engaged in human rights abuses, including kidnap, torture and imprisonment of hundreds of Rwandans in Uganda. This is one of the issues that led to the countries’ falling out and border closure for three years.
Who is Gen. Kandiho
Maj Gen Kandiho, who worked at CMI for the bigger part of his military career as an officer and later heading it, also worked at the Ugandan High Commission in Kigali in the early 2,000s.
Before May 2014, he served as the Commander of Makindye Military Barracks – the headquarters of the UPDF Military Police.
On May 30, 2014, he was replaced in that position by Colonel Emmanuel Kanyesigye. Kandiho stayed on as Deputy Commander.
In December 2021, the United States slapped travel and financial sanctions against Kandiho over his alleged involvement in cases of human rights violations such as enforced disappearance, torture, arbitrary arrest and detention , among others of opposition supporters.
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