KAMPALA.
Lt Gen Peter Elwelu, the senior presidential adviser and army representative in Parliament, is among the 1,346 Uganda People’s Defense Forces (UPDF) officers cleared to retire this July .
Gen Elwelu, who previously served as Deputy Chief of Defence Forces (D/CDF), was dropped from the army leadership in March 2024 and President Museveni ,also commander in chief subsequently appointed him Senior Presidential Adviser.
Since then, tensions have simmered between him and the current Chief of Defence Forces (CDF), Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba. Insiders say the friction between the two men escalated to the point where Gen Muhoozi allegedly threatened to arrest Gen Elwelu. In December 2024, Gen Muhoozi using his X(Twitter) platform referred to Gen Elwelu as a “buffoon” who was “unworthy of serving in Uganda’s military.”
Speaking to Uganda’s Daily Monitor newspaper, the country’s independent daily on Wednesday , the deputy defence public information officer Maj Bilal Katamba, remained tight-lipped about Gen Elwelu’s retirement, but confirmed that a major retirement exercise is scheduled for July.
“We shall have the retirement exercise for Batch 15 in July this year. A full list of general officers set to retire will be shared at a later time,” Maj Katamba said.
Quoting highly placed military sources , Daily Monitor reported that Gen Elwelu’s retirement was discussed and agreed upon during recent sittings of the High Command and Army Council at State House Entebbe, held in March and April 2025.
The UPDF High Command, the military’s top decision-making organ, includes the President as chairperson, the Defence Minister, the Chief of Defence Forces, and other senior military officials such as service commanders, chiefs of staff, and division commanders. Other generals confirmed for retirement include Maj Gen Francis Okello, the former commandant of the National Defence College in Jinja, and Maj Gen George Igumba, who headed the Senior Command and Staff College (SCSC) in Kimaka.
Final preps according to the UPDF, a total of 1,346 officers and militants are currently undergoing sensitisation and documentation at the Non-Commissioned Officers’ Academy (NCOA) in Jinja, in preparation for the July 2025 retirement. The group includes senior officers from the rank of Major to Colonel. Brig Gen Emmanuel Kanyesigye, the commander of Jinja Cantonment, congratulated the retirees, calling their transition a “noble and honourable milestone.”
“Retirement is a blessing from God, especially when it comes with honour rather than disgrace,” he said, while commending their efforts during operations against the Lord’s Resistance Army and in stabilising the Karamoja sub-region. Brig Gen Julius Biryabarema, the director of Pensions, Gratuity and Compensation, advised retirees to remain vigilant against fraudsters targeting their terminal benefits.
Who is Gen Elwelu?
Gen Elwelu ,58 was born on June 12,1966 in Kumi District ,Eastern Uganda . He joined the Ugandan military in 1987 after attending Tanzania Military Academy in Monduli. He was later posted to the military installation at Kabamba. In 1995, he was transferred to the Gaddafi military barracks at Jinja City , at the Cadet Officer School.
Gen . Elwelu served as a commander within the UPDF when it intervened in Zaire now Democratic Republic of Congo(DRC) and overthrew the then President Mzee Mubutu Sese Seko ,alongside the Rwandan military. He returned to Uganda in 1999 and was deployed to the Northern Uganda to fight Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) led by Joseph Kony. During that tour of duty ,Gen Elwelu he survived being shot in the back.
In 2007 , when Uganda deployed troops to war-torn Somalia ,Gen Elwelu under the African Union Mission to Somalia ,commanded the first UPDF contingent . He received commendation from the UPDF chief of defence forces then , Gen Edward Katumba Wamala currently Minister of Works and Transport for his role on that tour.
In June 2013, Gen Elwelu was appointed commander of the 2nd UPDF Division based in Mbarara City. Before this elevation , the outspoken army officer had served as the commander of the UPDF 3rd Division based in Moroto District.
Gen .Elwelu is most known for the infamous Kasese massacre inside the Rwenzuru King Charles Wesley Mumbere’s Palace in November 2016 in which, according to Human Rights Watch, 153 people, including children, were killed.
In February 2019, Gen Elwelu was among over 2,000 officers of the UPDF received promotions where he was promoted from the rank of Major General to Lieutenant General.