PROFILE: Who is Gen. Kale Kayihura?

By our reporter

In March, 2018, Gen. Edward Kale Kayihura was sacked as Inspector Genral of Police (IGP) and he was replaced with Martins Okoth Ochola and since then the serving army officer had kept a lower profile until on Tuesday night when news regarding his arrest broke the internet.

Prior to his arrest, Kayihura was subsequently summoned to report at the army headquarters in Mbuya and was informed a military helicopter was being dispatched to pick him from his home in Kashagama, Lyantonde district.

According to a statement released on Wednesday by the army spokesperson, Brig. Richard Karemire, Kayihura was required to report to the Chief of Defence Forces, Gen. David Muhoozi, at the army headquarters in Mbuya on June 12, as a serving officer.

“A helicopter was subsequently dispatched on Tuesday to transport him from Kashagama, but on arrival, Gen. Kale had travelled to Mbarara and so it had to return to Entebbe Air Force Base. The helicopter was again yesterday sent back and it has returned safely to Kampala with him on board,” Karemire said.

Who is Kayihura?

Edward Kale Kayihura Muhwezi was born in Kisoro District, Western Uganda, on 26 December 1955.

He is the son of Johnson Komuluyange Kalekyezi, one of the Ugandans who fought for the country’s independence, which occurred on 9 October 1962. His father died in an aeroplane crash in Kiev, Ukraine on 17 August 1960, when Kale Kayihura was only four years old.

His mother is Catherine Mukarwamo, first-born child of Nyamihana, a former chief of Nyakabande Village. Nyamihana was also the father of Justice Joseph Mulenga Nyamihana, who served as President of the East African Court of Justice and died on 29 August 2012.

He went to Gayaza Primary School in Kisoro District. He later transferred to Buhinga Primary School in Kabarole District.

He studied at Mutolere Secondary School, in Kisoro District, up to Senior Four, under the care of his maternal grandmother, the late Sofia Nyamihana. His brilliance in school caught the attention of his paternal uncle, the late Frank Gasasira, an accomplished civil servant at the time, who took over the responsibility of his education.

In 1974, Kale Kayihura was enrolled in St. Mary’s College Kisubi for his Advanced Level education. He studied Drama, History, English Literature and Economics. He did well and was admitted to Makerere University to study for the Bachelor degree of Laws (LLB).

He graduated in 1978 and proceeded to University of London from where he graduated with the degree of Master of Laws (LLM), in 1982, at age 26.

After graduation (1982), Kayihura joined the National Resistance Army, a rebel outfit that fought the regime of Milton Obote II and captured power in 1986.

Kayihura has since grown in military rank and held multiple offices in the army and public service, including the following: As an Aide de Camp to the Commander of the Mobile Brigade, from 1982 to 1986,as a Staff Officer in the Office of the Assistant Minister of Defence, from 1986 to 1988,as Chief Political Commissar and simultaneous Director of Political Education in the National Resistance Army, as the Operational Commander of the UPDF forces in Ituri Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo, as a Military Assistant to the President of Uganda. In that capacity, he headed the Anti-Smuggling Unit, whose official name is Special Revenue Police Services.

He formerly served as the Inspector General of Police (IGP) of the Uganda Police Force.He had served in that position since 2005 when he replaced General Edward Katumba Wamala as the IGP. He was the second Ugandan military officer to serve as the chief of the Uganda Police Force, in the history of the country. General Kayihura is still an active member of Uganda’s military and was previously the Head of the country’s Revenue Protection Services.

He is married to Angella Kayihura, a Kenyan of Rwandese descent. She is the granddaughter of Rudahigwa, the last king of pre-independence Rwanda. The Kayihuras are the parents of two children.