Former presidential candidate Rtd. Maj. Gen. Benon Biraro is dead. Biraro succumbed to cancer at Kampala Hospital at the age of 61.The general has been battling illness for more than a year and he has sought treatment abroad.
Biraro is a former high-ranking commander in the Uganda People’s Defense Forces (UPDF). While still in the active military, he served as the commandant of the Uganda Seniror Command and Staff College in Kimaka, Jinja. In 2016, he unsuccessfully ran for President of Uganda on behalf of his Farmers Party.
Born on 1 March 1958 in Isingiro District, Biraro attended Makerere University in Kampala graduating in 1982 with a Bachelor of Arts in political science. Rtd. Maj. Gen. Benon Biraaro joined the Uganda Bush War on 7 June 1982, straight out of Makerere University and by 1984, he had risen to the position of secretary to the High Command and National Resistance Council.
Later, he attended Cranfield University in the United Kingdom, graduating with a Masters in Global Strategic Studies.
He served in key positions mainly in the military. He was the deputy to President Museveni’s Principal Private Secretary, served as the commanding officer of the 97th Battalion in Uganda’s Eastern region, served as commander of Military Police, commanded the Ugandan contingent to the DRC, deputy chief of staff of the UPDF (DCOS) -the fifth-highest rank in the Uganda military.