Ali Muhammed Kiiza is a retired Ugandan Major General, in the UPDF Air Force, who serves as a Senior Military Adviser to the President of Uganda.
18 Facts About Ali Kiiza
1.
2.
Ali Kiiza first trained using a Piper PA-18 Super Cub, before graduating to a Fouga CM.
3.
Ali Kiiza was then assigned to the VIP Transport Division, within the Uganda Army Air Force, using a Piper PA-23 aircraft.
4.
Ali Kiiza was awarded a Military Cross medal for his heroics.
5.
Ali Kiiza undertook combat flight training in Iraq, under Russian instruction on Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 fighter jets.
6.
Ali Kiiza was then appointed the commander of the Uganda Army Air Force's MiG-21 unit, known as the "Supersonic Fighter Squadron".
7.
Ali Kiiza piloted Yasser Arafat from Damascus, Syria to Entebbe, and then to Khartoum, Sudan.
8.
Amin tasked Ali Kiiza to fly Gowon to Lome, Togo, where he went into exile.
9.
In spite of the multiple changes in leadership in Uganda during the 1970s and 1980s, Ali Kiiza continued to function as the presidential chief pilot, because of his training and experience.
10.
Ali Kiiza flew Yusuf Lule, Godfrey Binaisa, Paulo Muwanga, and Milton Obote.
11.
Ali Kiiza told Obote that the presidential jet needed servicing in the United States.
12.
Ali Kiiza flew the plane to the US, then turned around and flew it back to London, in the United Kingdom.
13.
Ali Kiiza handed the presidential jet to Lieutenant Colonel Paul Babula, who flew the Gulfstream II back to Uganda.
14.
Ali Kiiza settled in the United States, where Gulfstream Aerospace offered him employment.
15.
Ali Kiiza returned to Uganda in 1986, after Yoweri Museveni had become president.
16.
In 1987, Ali Kiiza was recalled back into the Air Force.
17.
Ali Kiiza served as Museveni's chief pilot from 1987 until 2012.
18.
Ali Kiiza flew him from Entebbe to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, then to Pretoria, South Africa.