Former self-exiled UPDF officer Kyakabale dies in Sweden

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The Uganda Peoples Defence Forces on Sunday (October 5) confirmed that Col (rtd) Anthony Kyakabale, a former rebel, has died in Sweden.

Defence spokesperson Maj. Gen. Felix Kulayigye confirmed to New Vision on phone.

“It is true, we have received reports that our former colleague, Col. (rtd) Kyakabale died today in Sweden.” 

He said no details had been released yet about the cause of death, adding that they, too, were waiting for the family before any further communication can be done.

Kyakabale, a once self-exiled UPDF officer, returned home from Sweden in March 2015, where he had lived for more than 12  years after declaring war on the government of Uganda when he fled the country in 2001.

At the time, the army considered him one of the masterminds of the then rebel group, People's Redemption Army that was formed in the early 2000s to oust the National Resistance Movement (NRM) from power.

Intelligence alleged that Kyakabale and other UPDF soldiers, who included Lt. Col. Samson Mande, were linked to the rebel group which was also linked to the opposition Forum for Democratic Change.

Born in Kabale in the 1960s, Kyakabale joined the National Resistance Army (NRA) in the 1980s and was among the officers who attacked the Kabamba military barracks on February 6, 1981.

In 2001, he fled to Rwanda at the rank of lieutenant colonel and declared war on the government of Uganda in 2002. In 2003, he relocated to Sweden.

Upon his return to Uganda in March 2015, he met President Yoweri Museveni, who pardoned him and later promoted him to the rank of colonel and later retired him.

In the run up to the 2021 general elections, Kyakabale campaigned for President Museveni in Kigezi sub-region and praised him for his programme on poverty reduction.