KAMPALA .President Museveni has appointed Brig. Gen Richard Tukachungurwa to head the new restructured General Court Martial.
This comes after the General Court Martial was restructured following the Supreme Court landmark ruling, which said military courts lacked judicial competence to try civilians.
“In accordance with Section 192, 193 and 195 of the UPDF Act as amended and acting on the advice of the Judicial Service Commission, I have appointed persons below as Head and members of the General Court Martial and Chairperson of Division and Unit Court Martials respectively,” reads part of President Museveni’s letter addressed to his son, Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba who serves as the Chief of Defence Forces.
In the letter, a copy of which was seen by this publication Brig Gen Tukachungurwa will lead a 10-member committee and two more chairpersons of the Division Court Martial.
Other members of the General Court Martial include; Col. Wankandya Simon Tusah, Col. Asha Patra, Col. Fredrick Kangwamu, Col. Mugisha Raphael, Lt. Col. Mohammedie Nasser Igambi and Maj. Samuel Moses Amodoi.
Others are Maj. Emmanuel Arihaihi, Maj. Abubaker Nyombi and Maj. Denis Chemtai.
The two chairpersons of Division Court Martials are Lt. Col. David Drani Epalu – Forth Division and Lt. Col. Yaqoub Hassan Mulyanti – One Special Forces Group.
In June, President Museveni signed into law the Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces (Amendment) Act, 2025 into law which introduced extensive reforms to the General Court Martial, the country’s top military tribunal.
The Act substitutes Section 195 of the principal Act, establishing a new structure for the General Court Martial.
According to the new law, “there shall be a General Court Martial for the Defence Forces, which shall consist of — the Head of the General Court Martial, who shall be a person qualified to be appointed a judge of the High Court and who shall not be below the rank of Brigadier General.”
The membership will further include “two members, who shall be advocates of the High Court, not below the rank of Colonel; two senior officers, who shall be advocates of the High Court; and such other number of advocates as may be determined by the High Command.”
All members of the General Court Martial are required to be serving members of the Defence Forces.
Under the new law , the appointment of members to the General Court Martial are made by the Commander-in-Chief, acting on the advice of the Judicial Service Commission and drawing from a list of persons approved by the High Command.
As the law states, “the members of the General Court Martial shall be appointed by the Commander-in-Chief, acting on the advice of the Judicial Service Commission, from a list of persons approved by the High Command.”
The reforms also introduce a clear appellate framework. Decisions of the General Court Martial will now be subject to appeal to the Court of Appeal, a provision contained under Section 195(11).
This represents a major shift, bringing the military justice system more firmly under the oversight of Uganda’s civilian judicial system.