President Yoweri Museveni has appointed former head of the Chieftancy of Military Intelligence (CMI) Major General Abel Kandiho as Uganda Police Chief of Joint Staff replacing Maj Gen Jackson Bakasumba.
Maj Gen Abel Kandiho’s appointment comes just days after President Yoweri Museveni who is also the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, dropped long-serving Commandant of the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence, and sent him to be the Defense Attache in South Sudan.
Museveni replaced him with Former Special Forces Command (SFC) boss, Maj. Gen. James Birungi.
In a sudden turn of events, Kandiho bounces back to a new appointment in the Uganda Police Force while Maj Gen Bakasumba takes over as the new delegate for South Sudan Peace Monitoring Mechanism.
Kandiho’s removal from CMI came in the wake of the US government issuing sanctions against him last December for alleged torture and human rights abuses. Ironically, his new appointment to police, coincides with concerns over escalating cases of torture and degradation of human rights by security agencies in Uganda.
Opposition legislators last week also announced a two-week boycott of parliamentary sittings protesting reports of illegal detention, forced dissapprarance and torture. The same concern was reiterated by the US mission in Kampala and the European Union (EU) delegation in Uganda.
The US Treasury Department says that as commander of CMI, Kandiho and other CMI officers targeted individuals due to their nationality, political views, or criticism of the Ugandan government.