Gen. Sejusa missing on list of retiring generals again

Although Gen. David Sejusa had applied to the UPDF expressing the desire to retire from the army, he is not on the list of those cleared to retire. His name was reportedly removed.

This is not the first time Sejusa's name is missing on the list of the soldiers retiring. Last year, the UPDF retired 11 Generals, which makes the number of generals retired in the last one year to 30.

 Gen. David Sejusa

President Yoweri Museveni is Monday evening hosting a dinner for the generals who have been cleared to retire. At the same function, the 19 generals will receive certificates and the President will walk them out of State House to the main gate.

 Gen. Yoweri Museveni at Kabamba barracks recently

According to UPDF spokesperson Brig. Richard Karemire, it is now part of UPDF to retire officers of all ranks, including the highest ranks.

 Brig. Richard Karemire

 
Speaking to local media, Sejusa says he is already a retired officer after the High Court ruled in 2016 that he was no longer a serving UPDF officer since he had spent years without getting benefits from the army.

He says it is of no consequence for him to appear on the list of the retiring soldiers doesn't need UPDF retirement.

 List of retiring Generals

While delivering judgement in 2016 Justice Margeret Oumo said Gen Sejusa was entitled to constructive discharge from the army since he was no longer receiving a salary and other benefits from the army and was not deployed for over a year.

Gen Sejusa has on several occasions applied for retirement since 1996, but the army has turned down his pleas to leave the military.

According to Brig Karemire, the army will decide when to retire Gen Sejusa.
"At an appropriate time, he will be honourably retired by the institution of the UPDF," Brig Karemire said.

Sejusa's woes
In 1996, Gen Sejusa announced he had resigned from the army citing harassment and intimidation by the top UPDF leadership following his testimony in Parliament about why the army had failed to end the Lord's Resistance Army atrocious insurgency in the north. He blamed the unending insurgency on the army's mistakes.

Joseph Kony led the insurgency in northern Uganda for nearly two decades

He was summoned to the High Command and in anticipation of harassment over his parliamentary testimony, Gen. Sejusa announced his resignation. The army rejected his resignation.

He petitioned the Constitutional Court which allowed his resignation.
But he lost the case when the government appealed to the Supreme Court which dismissed his resignation in a majority verdict and declared that he was still a serving military officer.

Later he was reintegrated into the army and appointed Coordinator of Intelligence Services until 2013 when again he fell out with the State.

He applied to the army for retirement, but his application was rejected again.
He petitioned the High Court, saying he had been constructively retired following the withdrawal of his entitlements as a serving army officer.

In 2015, the court ruled that Gen. Sejusa had indeed been constructively retired from military service after the army withdrew all his entitlements as a serving General.

The UPDF is already conducting a pre-retirement training for over 1,400 soldiers including 17 generals who are supposed to be retired in the next financial year that starts next month.

Gen Sejusa has on several occasions applied for retirement since 1996 but the army has turned down his pleas to leave the military he has served for many years.
Brig Karemire said the army will decide when to retire Gen Sejusa.

Who is Gen. David Sejusa?
Born on November 13, 1954, General David Sejusa is a decorated UPDF soldier with the DAMU Medal and the Luweero Triangle Medal. A lawyer and a bush war hero, he was the coordinator of intelligence services and a senior presidential adviser to President Yoweri Museveni. He served as army commander and a member of High Command, the UPDF defence council and a Member of Parliament representing the Uganda People's Defence Force.

Tinyefuza attended Nyakasura High School. He holds the degree of Bachelor of Laws Honours (LLB) and Master of Laws (LLM) from Makerere University. He also attended the Law Development Centre for the Diploma in Legal Practice where he left after a clerkship for cadet training in Tanzania. He was also a student leader at Makerere University.

He has obtained the senior command qualifications from the Uganda Senior Command and Staff College at Kimaka, Jinja, Uganda. He also holds a Certificate in Information Technology from Canada. He also attended the Police Cadet Course in Tanzania and Senior Command Strategic Course. He is married to Juliet Tinyefuza.

On 17 February 2012, David Tinyefuza officially changed his name to David Sejusa. He said Sejusa is a family name that is also reflected on some of his academic documents, but that he had abandoned it "around secondary school level" but that he would re-claim as "everybody back home" refers to him as such.

He added: "There is nothing in reverting to my original name. It is comrades like you who didn't know it was my name, but those elder comrades have always referred to me as such. And I suggest that from today you quote me as Gen. David Sejusa."

The Sejusa name is a Luganda rendering that is loosely translated as "I have no regrets;" it also has the same meaning in the Ankole rendition of Tinyefuza, which he said was a reason to take a new identity.

Prior to 1981, David Tinyefuza was a policeman with the Uganda Police Force serving as Assistant Superintendent of Police. In 1981, he became a combatant in the war rebels waged against the government of Milton Obote from 1981 until 1986.

For a period of 10 years following the victory of the NRA in 1986, he served as a member of the National Resistance Army Council (NRAC) and the National Executive Committee (NEC).

Between 1989 and 1992, he was the Minister of State for Defence, when President Yoweri Museveni was the Minister of Defence. In 1993, he was appointed Presidential Adviser on Peace and Security, serving in that capacity until 1997. He was appointed Senior Presidential Adviser and Coordinator of Intelligence in 2005, a position he held until 2013.

While in exile in London, Sejusa started a political party, Freedom and Unity Front, in November 2013.

Sejusa returned to Uganda in December 2014 and made a number of statements that could have led to his arrest in January 2016. He was taken to Makindye military barracks and briefly held, but later released days later.

His home remained under surveillance and with time, his political utterances reduced before disappearing just as President Yoweri Museveni had earlier indicated, saying: "Sejusa's utterances will stop."