The former inspector general of police, General Edward Kalekezi Kayihura, commonly referred to as Kale Kayihura, has been allowed to retire from the army, and all charges against him have been dropped.
The 67-year-old battle-hardened general was arrested and taken to to the General Court Martial in Makindye in June 2018 and charged with aiding and abetting kidnapping by commission and repatriating Rwandan exiles, refugees, and Ugandan citizens to Rwanda between 2012 and 2016, charges he denied.
A statement released by Col. Deo Akiki, the deputy Spokesperson of the Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces (UPDF), confirmed that Gen. Kayihura has been cleared for retirement; he, however, declined to divulge more information.
“I can confirm that General Kale Kaihura has been cleared for retirement. The rest of the process, I’m not privy to,” part of the statement read.
According to a source, Gen. Kayihura, 67, will be among the 10 UPDF generals to retire from active service in the Ugandan army in July.
He is also joined by Maj. Gen. Sam Wasswa Mutesasira, Maj. Gen. Arocha Joseph, Brig. Steven Oluka, and Brig. Augustine Atwooki on the generals’ list, as well as Lt. Col. Juma Seiko, among others.
Gen. Kayihura will be joining former NRA comrades David Sejusa and the late Elly Tumwine, who retired recently.
Kayihura had been serving as the inspector general of police from 2005 to 2018 until he was replaced by Okoth Ochola in an unexpected reshuffle.
