Land Forces Leadership

Kayanja Muhanga, who was born around 1964 in Fort Portal, Kabarole District, Western Uganda, is an army officer in Uganda. He currently holds the position of Commander of Land Forces in the UPDF, appointed in October 2022 by the President of Uganda and Commander in Chief of the UPDF, Yoweri Museveni. Previously, he served as the commander of the Uganda People’s Defence Force contingent in Eastern DRC under the operation code named Operation Shujja, a position he was appointed to in January 2021 by General Yoweri Museveni.

Maj. General Muhanga previously held the position of Commandant of the Military Police within the Uganda People’s Defence Force (UPDF). He has a sister named Margaret Muhanga, who is a staffer in the Office of the President of Uganda, and an older brother, journalist Andrew Mwenda, who is the publisher and editor of The Independent (Uganda) newsmagazine. Their father is Mzee Phillip Muhanga of Fort Portal.

Military

In 1988, he attended the Cadet Officers Course at the Uganda Military Academy, which was then located at Quaddafi Barracks in Jinja, Eastern Uganda. Later, the school was relocated to Kabamba in Mubende District. He joined the NRA as a Private and served in that rank until the NRA took power in 1986. Initially, he served in the military police unit based in Kasese and later in the Presidential Protection Unit as a Private from 1986 to 1988.

After completing the Junior Cadet Officer Course, he served in the office of the Chief of Combat Operations as a Second Lieutenant. In 1990, he was transferred to the Directorate of Military Intelligence, where he served until 1993. Then, from 1993 to 1997, he served as the Intelligence Officer, attached to the UPDF barracks in Mubende.

Later, he was assigned to the Joint Anti-Terrorism Taskforce at the rank of Captain. He was promoted to Major, Lieutenant Colonel, and Colonel, respectively. In Somalia, he commanded Uganda’s “Battle Group Eight” and concurrently served as the Deputy Commander for the Ugandan contingent in Somalia.

After his duty in Somalia, he served as the Chief of Military Police in the UPDF until January 2014. In January 2014, he was appointed as the Commander of UPDF Operations in South Sudan with the rank of Colonel. A month later, he was promoted to the rank of Brigadier.

Major General Francis Takirwa is a military officer in Uganda who currently serves as the commanding officer of the Second Division of the Uganda People’s Defence Forces in Mbarara, Western Region. He was born on November 7, 1965, in Mbarara District and attended Mbarara Junior School for his primary education, followed by Mbarara High School for O-Level studies, after which he joined the Uganda Military.[2]

In 1994, he attended the Junior Command and Staff Course at the Uganda Junior Staff College in Jinja and later completed the Company Commanders Course at the Tanzania Military Academy at Monduli in 1998. In 2006, he attended the Army Senior Command Course at Nanjig Army Command College in Nanjing, China. He obtained a Diploma in African Strategic Studies from the Nasser Higher Military Academy in Giza, Egypt, in 2009. He also completed an Executive National Security Programme at the South African National Defence College.

Military

Major General Francis Takirwa has a long history of service in the Ugandan military dating back to 1989. Throughout his career, he has held various leadership roles, including a tour in Somalia as part of the UPDF contingent to AMISOM from 2011 to 2012. Prior to his current position as commanding officer of the Second Division of the UPDF, Takirwa served as the chief of Education, Sports, and Culture in the UPDF. He took over from Major General Kayanja Muhanga, who left to pursue further studies at the South African National Defence College.