Following the enactment of the 1995 Constitution, the National Resistance Army (NRA) was renamed the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF).
Since its creation, UPDF has had a good number of feared and respected commanders who have managed to command and guide others to successful operations both inside and outside Uganda. Due to its good leadership, UPDF is ranked among the top armies in Africa.
Here are the most feared and respected voices in UPDF’s current leadership structure:
1.H.E Gen Yoweri Kaguta Museveni
He serves as the current President of the Republic Of Uganda and is the Commander In Chief (CIC) of the UPDF. Gen Museveni has been Uganda’s leader since 1986.
Gen Museveni came to power after a five-year guerrilla war in which he led the NRA against the government of Milton Obote. Since then, he has been re-elected in a series of highly contested elections, with the most recent being in January 2021.
2.Gen Wilson Mbasu Mbadi
Gen Mbadi is a high-ranking military officer in the UPDF who currently holds the position of Chief of Defense Forces, the most senior position in Uganda’s military. He is responsible for the administration and operational control of the Ugandan military. He assumed this role on 24 June 2021, succeeding General David Muhoozi, who was appointed State Minister of Internal Affairs.
In addition to being the Chief of Defense Forces, General Mbadi holds other important positions within the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF). He serves as the Chairman of several committees, including the UPDF Medals Committee, UPDF Dress Committee, Defence Forces Duty-Free Shop Board of Directors, Senior Command and Staff College Control Board, Uganda National Defence College Steering Committee, and MoDVA Projects Preparation Committee. He is also a member of the Kyoga Dynamics Board of Directors.
Previously, he also served as the Chairman of Uganda Military Engineering College and as a member of the Board of Directors of the National Enterprise Corporation Limited from 2013 to 2016. He was also a member of the Standard Gauge Railway Board of Directors from 2015 to 2018.
Prior to his current position, General Mbadi served as the Deputy Chief of Defense Forces from January 2017 to June 2021, holding the rank of Lieutenant General. He replaced Lieutenant General Charles Angina, who became Deputy Commander of Operation Wealth Creation. From May 2013 to January 2017, he served as the Joint Chief of Staff of the UPDF, before being replaced by Major General Joseph Musanyufu.
He joined the Uganda military in 1986 and was commissioned in 1991 after completing a one-year Officer Cadet course at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in the United Kingdom, where he graduated at the top of his class. In 1992, he attended the Platoon Commander’s Course at the Uganda School of Infantry, then located in Jinja, and in 1994, he attended the Uganda Junior Staff College, also in Jinja. He is among the most decorated Generals in UPDF.
3.Lt Gen Peter Elwelu
Lieutenant General Elwelu is the Deputy Chief of the Defense Forces of the UPDF, he was appointed on 24 June 2021. Prior to this, he served as the commander of land forces from 9 January 2017, which is the fourth-highest position in the UPDF hierarchy. From June 2013 until January 2017, he was the commander of the UPDF 2nd division, which is based in Mbarara, the largest town in Uganda’s Western Region.
Peter Elwelu reportedly joined the Ugandan military in 1987 after attending the Tanzania Military Academy in Monduli. He was then posted to the military installation at Kabamba and later transferred to the Cadet Officer School at the Gaddafi military barracks in Jinja in 1995.
He served as a commander within the UPDF during the invasion of Zaire and the overthrow of Mobutu Sese Seko, alongside the Rwandan military. He was later deployed to the Northern Region in 1999 to fight Joseph Kony and his guerilla Lord’s Resistance Army. During this tour, he survived being shot in the back. In 2007, Elwelu commanded the first Uganda military contingent when the country sent troops to Somalia under the African Union Mission to Somalia. He received a recommendation from then UPDF chief of defence forces, General Katumba Wamala, for his role on that tour.
4.Lt Gen Kayanja Muhanga
He is the current Commander of Land Forces in the UPDF, appointed in October 2022 by Gen Museveni. Previously, he served as the commander of the Uganda People’s Defence Force contingent in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo under the operation code named Operation Shujja, a position he was appointed to in January 2021 by Gen Museveni.
Lt. General Muhanga previously held the position of Commandant of the Military Police within the Uganda People’s Defence Force (UPDF).
5.Lt. Gen Charles Okidi
Lt. Gen Okidi is a high-ranking military officer currently serving as Commander of the UPDF Air Force, a position he assumed in November, 2022. Prior to this appointment, he served as the Director of Operations at the UPDF Air Force Headquarters in Entebbe.
Gen Okidi is a distinguished Ugandan military officer and he is a long-term presidential pilot. He has held several leadership positions in the Air Force, including Air Force Wing Commander at Nakasongola Air Force Base, Commander of the Air Force Wing at Entebbe Air Force Base, and Squadron Commander and Officer Commanding Operations at Entebbe Air Force Wing.
6.Brig Gen David Mugisha
Brig Gen. Mugisha is the Commander of Special Force Command ( SFC). Prior to this position, he served as the second commander of the third infantry division, which is headquartered in Moroto.
The SFC is a specialized component of the Uganda People’s Defense Forces tasked with carrying out specialized missions or operations at a moment’s notice and it’s also responsible for providing security to the President of Uganda and the First Family.
7.Lt Gen Charles Otema
He is the General officer Commanding Reserve Force (Goc – Rf).
8.Maj Gen Leopold Eric Kyanda
He is the current Joint Chief of Staff, effective as of June 24, 2021. He succeeded Lieutenant General Joseph Musanyufu, who was redeployed to the civil service.
Previously, Kyanda served as the Chief of Staff of the Land Forces in the UPDF, where he replaced Major General Charles Angina.
He once served as the Commandant of the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI), and also served as the Military Attaché at the Ugandan Embassy in Washington, DC for a period of two years.
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