The former Inspector General of Police, Gen Kale Kayihura was on Thursday one of the 11 generals who officially retired from active service of the UPDF.
Gen Kayihura retired after serving for 41 years since 1982.
The official retirement function for the 11 generals was held at State House in Entebbe.
Also retired was Lt Gen James Nakibus Lakara, Maj Gen Samuel Wasswa Mutesasira, Maj Gen Joseph Arocha and Maj Gen David Wakaalo.
Others were Brig Gen Austine Kasatwooki Kamanyire, Brig Gen Stephen Oluka, Brig Gen Frank Katende Kyambadde, Brig Gen Emmanuel Kwihangana, Brig Gen Wilson Muhabuzi and Brig Gen Ham Atwooki Kaija.
Speaking to the retirees, President Museveni hailed them for their contribution to the peace and stability of the country through their service within the UPDF.
"The strong revolutionary force that we built did not only rescue Uganda but somehow contributed to some situations in the region of the Great Lakes. Therefore, I really congratulate you for belonging to such a glorious force and making your own contribution to it because it solved very many problems of our people. When you look at our economy now, it is a totally different story from what it was in 1986 and even different from what is happening in the world. Even today, even if you compare to the whole world you can see the difference,"he said.
He urged the generals to remain active wherever they will go.
"Don't regard this retirement as becoming redundant now, no, not at all! This is like a mutation, from one form of service to another one and that is why we had to hold on retirement until we had solved the problem of package and I can assure you that what you are going with is considerable. That is why last year I permitted the retirement of generals and that is why for a long time we do not permit the retirement of casualties at Mubende. We said they should stay until we give them a good retirement package to make sure that their lives in the villages is good. Now this package that you have got is really good," Museveni said.
Advising them on the retirement package, Museveni asked them to utilize it well to ensure they benefit out of it.
"You should do something small which you are sure of. Like a man called Nyakana in Fort Portal area, he has listened to our message and with 1.2 acres of land. He earns over Shs240m in a year from eight cows of milk and poultry. So if for you can get five acres, this is a lot of land which can help you to get a lot of income. If you invest in food production, you cannot go wrong. You see when we got Covid, things like tourism collapsed but eating never collapsed," he emphasized.
"Apart from anchoring your future using the retirement package, you just sit down and become local counselors of the local people. They will come to you and advise them what they can do for themselves to improve their household incomes. You are now going to become a new commissar and officer in a wider population. People will come to you but they will come to you when you are stable."
The Chief of Defence Forces Gen Wilson Mbasu Mbadi thanked the president for hosting and blessing the retirement ceremony but also congratulated the retiring generals for successfully reaching the final stage of their careers.
He thanked the president for the enhanced emoluments for the retiring generals which he said has settled their hearts.
"We therefore want to thank you for the enhanced emoluments which has cured the fear of unknown and the reluctance for retiring," Gen Mbadi said.
Gen Kayihura speaks out
Gen Kale Kayihura who spoke on behalf of other retiring generals expressed his gratitude to the president, army court and other authorities in the UPDF for finally freeing him of all the charges.
"I am the happiest human being on earth now," he noted.
Gen Kale said that after long term of service and the achievements the UPDF had made it was the right time for them to retire and let the young and energetic soldiers take on the mantle of leadership.
"Today the Country is peaceful, secure and stable unlike our times when we joined when there was duka duka," he said.
Finally free
The Thursday function meant that Gen Kayihura had finally left active service of the army he has been in since 1982 when he joined the NRA rebels shortly after completing his Master of Laws in the United Kingdom .
He would later play a crucial role in the rebel outfit after becoming an aide to Gen Salim Saleh who was then the commander of the NRA Mobile Brigade.
Kayihura was later in 1985 appointed to head the anti-smuggling unit in areas that the NRA had captured, a position he held until the NRA rebels captured power.
He also served as the staff officer in the office of the assistant minister of Defence and a member of the tender board.
Gen Kayihura was appointed as the acing chief political commissar and later director of political education in the army.
In 1988, he was promoted to the rank of captain from Junior officer class II but also appointed the military assistant to President Museveni.
Kayihura was later tasked to head the Special Revenue Police Service, an anti smuggling unit that helped deal with smugglers.
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Here, he became famous for helping fight smugglers in the different parts of the country.
In 2005, Kayihura was promoted to the rank of Major General and appointed the Inspector General of Police to replace, Gen Edward Katumba Wamala.
Gen Kayihura went on to become the longest serving Inspector General of Police after serving in the position for 13 years until 2018 when he was dropped.
He is credited for having improved the police force but on the other hand, Gen Kayihura's critics accused him of helping President Museveni's hold onto power .
Charges
Shortly after being dropped as IGP, Kayihura was arrested and charged with failure to protect war material by issuing arms to unauthorised persons including Boda Boda 2010 members led by Abdallah Kitatta between 2010 and 2018 were slapped against Kayihura.
The army also accused him of aiding and abetting the kidnapping, repatriating Rwandan exiles and refugees and Ugandan citizens to Rwanda between 2012 and 2016, charges he denied.
He has battled with the charges until this week when the army court dropped them.
