Gen. Benon Biraaro passes on

DEATH         BIRARO

Former Presidential candidate Rtd Maj. Gen. Benon Biraaro Buta has died.
Gen Biraro died on Wednesday morning at Kampala Hospital, according to a family member.

Biraro contested for president in the 2016 general elections, leading the Farmers Party of Uganda.

Who is Benon Biraaro?
Benon Biraaro was born on March 1, 1958, in Isingiro district. He attended Makerere University, graduating in 1982 with a Bachelor of Arts in political science. Later, he attended Cranfield University in the United Kingdom, graduating with a Masters in Global Strategic Studies.

He joined the National Resistance Army (NRA) on June 7, 1982, more than a year after the rebels led by Yoweri Museveni, now president of Uganda. He joined straight out of Makerere University.

By 1984, he had risen to the position of secretary to the High Command and National Resistance Council. By 1986, he was Yoweri Museveni's Deputy Principal Private Secretary. He was than posted to Kitgum District, as the special district administrator, (a post that later changed to Resident District Commissioner) from 1986 until 1987.

He also served as deputy commandant of the National Leadership Institute, Kyankwanzi as well as commanding officer of the 97th Battalion in Uganda's Eastern Region, which fought the Uganda People's Army rebels in Teso.

He also served as the commander of the military police in Uganda, was in the Office of the Inspector General of Government and a member of the Adhoc Committee on Human Rights under the chairmanship of Abu Mayanja, before he became the director of training in the UPDF.

In 1998, he commanded the Ugandan contingent to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He than became the commander of the Infantry Division in the Western Region of Uganda.

He was later appointed deputy chief of staff of the UPDF, commandant for two in-takes at the Uganda Senior Command and Staff College at Kimaka, Jinja and chief of the Strategic Planning and Management Unit of the Peace and Security Council at the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.