Who is Kayanja Muhanga? Flash Uganda Media looks at his biography, age, wife, family, tribe, relationship with Andrew Mwenda, Margaret Muhanga, Mzee Phillip Muhanga, Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, Fort Portal, Kabarole District, early life and education of the current Commander Of Land Forces in UPDF in Uganda.
Kayanja Muhanga is a Lieutenant General in the Ugandan army. He is currently the Uganda People’s Defence Force’s Commander of Land Forces.
Lt. Gen. Muhanga was previously the Chief of the Military Police, Commander of the Mountain Division as well as Operation Shujaa in the Eastern DRC.
Early life and Education
Kayanja Muhanga was born in 1965 in Fort Portal, Kabarole District, Western Uganda. Mzee Phillip Muhanga of Fort Portal is his father.
He is the older brother of The Independent News Magazine publisher and journalist Andrew Mwenda. He has a sister, Margaret Muhanga who works in the Ugandan President’s office as Junior Health Minister.
He went to Mpanga Day School in Fort Portal after attending Duhaga Secondary School in the Hoima district. He enlisted in Museveni’s National Resistance Army (NRA) in 1985 as a dropout while still in senior five.
In 1988, Kayanja went to the Uganda Military Academy’s Cadet Officers Course at the School of Infantry. The school had been located at Gaddafi Barracks in Jinja, Eastern Uganda before moving to Kabamba in Mubende District.
Muhanga also offered a course at the National Defence College in South Africa in 2020.
Career and Professional Work Experience
He joined the NRA in the rank of Private and remained there until the NRA took over in 1986. During that time, he worked for the Kasese-based military police division.
From 1986 until 1988, he held the rank of private while serving in the Presidential Protection Unit. After completing the Junior Cadet Officer Course, he held the position of second lieutenant in the Chief of Combat Operations office.
In 1990, Kayanja was moved to the Directorate of Military Intelligence after completing his Cadet training. He worked until 1993 at the rank of Second Lieutenant under Commander Fred Tolit.
He worked in the UPDF barracks in Gulu District as a Brigade Intelligence Officer from 1993 until 1997. At the rank of Captain, he was given a position with the Joint Anti-Terrorism Task Force.
In 1998, Muhanga served as the 401 Brigade’s Brigade Operations and Training Officer when the UPDF engaged in combat with the Lord’s Resistance Army in Northern Uganda.
In 2011/2012, Lt. Gen. Kayanja served as a Battle Group Commander in Mogadishu city, Somalia while holding the rank of Lieutenant Colonel before being made acting Colonel.
He held the position of Chief of the Military Police in the UPDF until January 2014 after completing his term of duty. Colonel Kayanja Muhanga was named Commander of UPDF Operations in South Sudan in January 2014.
In 2020, Muhanga was appointed Commander of the Mountain Division by President Museveni upon his study return from South Africa.
Muhanga oversaw Operation Shujaa as Commander of the Uganda People’s Defence Force unit in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) against the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF). President Museveni appointed him to the position in January 2021.
He served in both positions as the Commander of Mountain Division and Operation Shujaa until October 2022 when he was replaced by Maj Gen Dick Olum.
He was also made the head of Joint Operations for Kampala Metropolitan before the general elections of 2021.
On 04th October 2022, H.E General Yoweri Museveni, the President of Uganda and Commander in Chief of the UPDF, appointed him to the position of Commander of Land Forces in a mini-reshuffle to replace Muhoozi Kainerugaba who was removed and instead promoted to Full-Star General.
Achievements and Awards
He advanced through the ranks of Major, Lieutenant Colonel, and Colonel before being assigned to Mogadishu, Somalia, as a member of the UPDF delegation to AMISOM.
He served as the deputy commander for the Ugandan contingent in Somalia while there and led Uganda’s “Battle Group Eight.” He received a promotion to the position of Brigadier in February 2014.
He was recently (in October 2022) promoted to Lieutenant General, the second highest rank in the UPDF by President Yoweri Museveni earning three stars.
Controversies
Lt Gen Kayanja Muhanga was appointed as the UPDF Commander of Land Forces following a controversial tweet by Lt Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, President Museveni’s son that angered Kenyans.
Lt Gen Muhoozi was thus removed and Lt Gen Kayanja was appointed by the President to replace him.
Editor’s Note: Please contact flashugnews@gmail.com if you find any of the content to be inaccurate or outdated.
