Three senior Ugandan military officers with long careers in intelligence, command and security operations remain prominent in the wider context of Uganda’s security establishment as Dr Kizza Besigye’s treason trial continues before the Kampala High Court.
The officers are Maj Gen James Birungi, Maj Gen Richard Otto and Maj Gen Abel Kandiho. Their careers span military intelligence, Special Forces Command, Operation Shujaa, armoured warfare, police command roles and regional peace monitoring assignments.
Maj Gen James Birungi’s Military Career
Maj Gen James Birungi was born in 1973 in Ngoma, Nakaseke District. He studied at Ibanda Senior Secondary School for O-Level before joining Nyakasura School for A-Level.
He later attended Makerere University Business School, where he obtained a degree in Business Administration.
Birungi joined the army in 1998 as a regular officer. A year later, he was selected for a cadet officer’s course in India. After returning to Uganda in 2000, he took a platoon commander course and emerged as the best student.
He was later appointed platoon commander in the Presidential Protection Unit.
His military training includes Basic Military Training in Kasenyi, Wakiso District, an anti-tank course in Masaka, a Motorised Infantry Commanders’ course, a Tank Crew course in Kalama, a Company Commanders course in Kalama, and a Tank Battalion Commanders course in Kalama.
He also attended the Junior Commanders course in Jinja and the Senior Command and Staff Course at Uganda Senior Command and Staff College in Kimaka.
Over the years, Birungi has held several senior positions in the Uganda People’s Defence Forces. These include commander of the Special Forces Command, Chief of Military Intelligence, Mountain Division Commander and Commander of Operation Shujaa.
He also served as Company Intelligence Officer in the Armoured Brigade in Masaka, Commanding Officer of the Armoured Warfare Training School at Karama, and Company Commander of Tanks in the Presidential Protection Unit, now the Special Forces Command.
Other roles include Operations Training Officer in the Presidential Guard Brigade, Commanding Officer of the Armoured Brigade, Commanding Officer of a Tank Battalion during disarmament operations in Karamoja, and Commanding Officer of a battalion deployed to Somalia.
Birungi also commanded two tank battle groups, served as Brigade Operations and Training Officer in the Presidential Guard Brigade, Chief of Staff of the Air Force, and head of the South Sudan Security Monitoring Mechanism.
However, he has spent nearly nine months in detention without trial. He was arrested in mid-2025 over allegations that he orchestrated fake terror bombings in Kampala, incidents in which two women were killed.
Maj Gen Richard Otto Heads Defence Intelligence
Maj Gen Richard Otto is a senior UPDF officer. Since April 16, 2025, he has served as Chief of Defence Intelligence and Security.
Before that appointment, Otto served as Commander of the UPDF Mountain Division. He also commanded Operation Shujaa, a joint mission by the UPDF and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo to neutralise the Allied Democratic Forces.
Before his Mountain Division assignment, Otto chaired the South Sudan Peace Mechanism. The IGAD-sponsored observer mechanism was established to monitor compliance with peace agreements by the parties involved.
He also previously served as commanding officer of the UPDF 3rd Division, based in Moroto.
Maj Gen Abel Kandiho’s Intelligence and Police Roles
Maj Gen Abel Kandiho has spent much of his military career within the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence, where he started as an officer before later heading the institution.
Kandiho also worked at Uganda’s High Commission in Kigali, Rwanda, in the early 2000s.
Before 2014, he served as Commander of Makindye Military Barracks, the headquarters of the UPDF Military Police. On May 30, 2014, Col Emmanuel Kanyesigye replaced him in that role, while Kandiho remained as deputy commander.
In December 2021, the United States placed sanctions on Kandiho over alleged involvement in human rights violations. He denied the allegations.
In 2022, he became Chief of Joint Staff in the Uganda Police Force, replacing Maj Gen Jack Bakasumba. He later left the police role and was appointed Special Presidential Advisor on Classified Operations.
Kandiho held that position until he was included on the list of generals scheduled to retire in August 2026.
Besigye Treason Case Continues
Dr Kizza Besigye, a former personal doctor to President Yoweri Museveni, has remained one of the President’s longest-serving political challengers. He has contested the presidency four times without success.
In 2024, Besigye was abducted from Nairobi, Kenya, alongside his aide Obeid Lutale. The two men were later jointly charged with treason. The State later added Capt Dennis Oola as another accused person in the case.
Prosecutors allege that the three, together with other people still at large, plotted to overthrow the government by force of arms between 2023 and November 2024.
The alleged plot reportedly involved activities in several countries, including Geneva, Athens, Nairobi and Uganda.
The charges followed the November 2024 arrest of Besigye and Lutale in Nairobi, where they had travelled to attend a book launch hosted by Kenya’s former Justice minister Martha Karua.
The accused have denied the charges.
The case is now at the trial stage before Justice Emmanuel Baguma at the Kampala High Court.
During the preliminary hearing, State prosecutors unsuccessfully sought court permission to conceal the identities of six of the 10 witnesses lined up to testify against the accused.
Defence lawyers for Besigye cross-examined Chief State Attorney Joseph Kyomuhendo, exposing sharp legal disagreements over the State’s request to shield the witnesses.
Kyomuhendo, who heads the Anti-Trafficking Department in the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, defended the application to protect the identities of key prosecution witnesses.
