I am ready to leave, says Lt Gen Elwelu

CAPTION: Lieutenant General Peter Elwelu,

By Our reporter

KAMPALA – The former Deputy Chief of Defence Forces (CDF), Lieutenant General Peter Elwelu, has welcomed the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) leadership’s decision to send him for early retirement.

Lt Gen Elwelu is among the 1300 top, middle and lower military career personnel set to be retired from the army in July this year. However, his appearance on the list of retiring top military officers, despite being aged 58, has sparked speculation that he has been forced to leave the army against his wishes.

When contacted to confirm whether he has been forced to leave the military against his will, Lt Gen Elwelu said: “I welcome the decision of the UPDF leadership to send me for an early retirement. I have surely made my humble contribution to my beloved country, Uganda. For God and my Country.”

Lt Gen Elwelu served as deputy CDF to Gen Wilson Mbasu Mbadi for nearly three years. He also served as commander of UPDF Land Forces and also commanded the UPDF 2ND Division in Mbarara, and it is his troops that attacked the Rwenzururu Palace in Kasese in November 2016, leaving more than 150 killed and more than 200 arrested.

Rwenzururu Palace was left in the shadow of its former self, and to date, its abandoned site remains, even though the government pardoned the king Charles Wesley Mumbere. Lt Gen Elwelu currently serves as the senior presidential advisor and a member of parliament representing the military.

Lt Gen Elwelu is set to retire alongside Maj Gen Charles Okello, who is the founding commander of UPDF’s National Defence College Uganda (NDC-UG) in Jinja and Maj Gen George Igumba.

By press time, Col Chris Magezi, the Acting Defence Public Information Officer (Spoke