The newly-appointed commander of the Land Forces in the Uganda Peoples Defence Forces has underpinned the importance of hard work and exercise of responsibility in the execution of this vital office.
On October 4 Commander-in-Chief Yoweri Museveni appointed Maj Gen Kayanja Muhanga as the new Commander of Land Forces replacing Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, whose tweets provoked a diplomatic situation with Kenya, prompting the President to write an apology to the government of Uganda’s eastern neighbour. Museveni also apologized to Ugandans over the former Land Forces commander’s tweets.
Before the new appointment, Lt Gen Kayanja has been commanding the Operation Shuja where the UPDF together with the Democratic Republic of Congo’s military are fighting the terrorist Allied Democratic Forces- ADF in Eastern Congo.
While speaking to URN on Thursday in Fort Portal, Lt. Gen. Kayanja Muhanga said that since November 2021 when operation shujja started, it has been successful as UPDF together with their DRC counterparts have been able to defeat the ADF rebels. Gen Kayanja says that the operation in now on phase three where most of the rebel camps have been captured and their communication network disrupted.
Kayanja says that with the added responsibility that comes with the new office, this is his time to work harder and achieve more. “The new office comes with big tasks, it needs hard work, discipline, commitment, there is a lot to do” he said
Kayanja adds that his predecessor Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba has achieved a lot of thing during his time as Commander of Land Forces that he will build on .
On whether he will still be commanding operation shujja under the new office, Lt Gen Kayanja said that as the Commander of Lad Forces, he will still be over seeing the operation and other operations that fall under his office.
Kayanja Muhanga was born in Fort Portal, Kabarole District, in 1964. While in S5 in 1985, he joined Yoweri Museveni’s National Resistance Army -NRA. He attended Duhaga Secondary School in Hoima district and later Mpanga Day School, in Fort Portal.
Muhanga attended the Cadet Officers Course at the Uganda Military Academy in 1988. At that time, the school was located at Quaddafi Barracks in Jinja, Eastern Uganda, before it was relocated to Kabamba, in Mubende District.
He served in the military police unit based in Kasese.
He served in the Presidential Protection Unit at the rank of private from 1986 until 1988. Following the Junior Cadet Officer Course, he served in the office of the Chief of Combat Operations, at the rank of second lieutenant.
He was transferred to the Directorate of Military Intelligence in 1990, serving there until 1993. From 1993 until 1997, he served as the Intelligence Officer, attached to the UPDF barracks in Mubende.
He was assigned to the Joint Anti-Terrorism Taskforce, at the rank of Captain. He was promoted through Major, Lieutenant Colonel, and Colonel and was posted to Mogadishu, Somalia, as part of the UPDF contingent to AMISOM.
While there, he commanded Uganda’s “Battle Group Eight” and concurrently served as the deputy commander for the Ugandan contingent in Somalia.
After his tour of duty, he served as the Chief of the Military Police in the UPDF, until January 2014. In January 2014, Colonel Kayanja Muhanga was appointed Commander of the UPDF Operations in South Sudan.
In February 2014, he was promoted to the rank of Brigadier. Ahead of the 2021 general elections, he was appointed the head of joint operations within Kampala Metropolitan.
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