Kasirye Ggwanga

Major General Kasirye Ggwanga (26 August 1952 – 9 June 2020), was a Ugandan military officer in the Uganda People's Defence Force. He was previously incarcerated as a prisoner of war for 897 days, inside both Uganda and Tanzania. He was a presidential advisor on Buganda Kingdom affairs. He was well respected for his fight towards environmental protection.

Background and education

He was born in 1952,

Career

Following boot camp and initial training, he was posted to Arua in the West Nile sub-region, as a map reader, serving in that capacity until 1977. In 1978, he was promoted to the position of artillery officer and the following year, he was promoted to the rank of staff sergeant.

In June 1980, President Godfrey Binaisa negotiated the return of the political prisoners to Uganda. They were first housed at Maluku Prison in Mbale District. Later, they were moved to Kirinya Prison, Jinja District. On 7 October 1981, Kasirye Ggwanga was in the first batch to be released.

In March 2018, Kasirye Ggwanga was promoted from the rank of Brigadier to that of Major General, in a promotions exercise involving 1,384 men and women of the UPDF. He was also officially retired from the Uganda military, in 2018.

Personal

Kasirye Ggwanga was a married father.

According to Softpower news, in January 2019, Gen Kasirye Ggwanga swaggered into action against renowned musician and presidential advisor Catherine Kusasira. In his attempt to quell noise pollution, the trigger happy veteran shot Catherine's car tyres leaving it damaged and immobile. Yet again, the General who lived his post war years above the law moved away scot free. In fact, the musician had to apologize to him for almost shooting her over a noise report from his sons.

Much is left to be reported about his cruelty or rather tough love lifestyle. Often, he was praised by the majority disregarding the victims.