46 Facts About Henry Tumukunde

Henry Tumukunde is a politician and retired senior military officer of the Uganda People's Defence Forces.

Henry Tumukunde ran as an independent candidate for president in the 2021 Ugandan general election.

Henry Tumukunde was the Minister of National Security in the Cabinet of Uganda, appointed to that position on 6 June 2016.

Henry Tumukunde is an advocate of the High Court of Uganda.

Henry Tumukunde has served as the Uganda Peoples Defence Forces Director of Planning, Chief of Personnel and Administration, Chief of Military Intelligence as well as serving as the commanding officer of the UPDF Fourth Division, based in Gulu in the Northern Region of Uganda.

Henry Tumukunde has previously served as the director general of the Internal Security Organisation.

Henry Tumukunde was born on 28 February 1959 in Rukungiri District in the Western Region of Uganda.

Henry Tumukunde attended Bishop Stuart College Demonstration School in Mbarara for his primary education and Kigezi College Butobere and Kibuli Secondary School for his O-Level and A-Level education, respectively.

Henry Tumukunde graduated from Makerere University with a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1981.

Henry Tumukunde obtained a Diploma in Legal Practice awarded by the Law Development Centre in 2010.

Henry Tumukunde holds an Executive Masters in Oil and Gas Management, awarded by the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies of Geneva in 2013.

Henry Tumukunde was hounded by the government security services during his last year at the university and, on completion of his education, decided to join the Ugandan Bush War, along with two of his friends at the time, Major General Mugisha Muntu and Colonel Jet Mwebaze.

In 1984, during one of the bigger battles with the then Uganda army in Luweero District, Henry Tumukunde was shot multiple times in his legs.

Henry Tumukunde was smuggled out of the country to Nairobi and eventually to London, where he was operated on.

On 3 March 2020, Henry Tumukunde declared that he will be challenging Yoweri Kaguta Museveni for the seat of presidency in 2021.

On 7 June 2020, following the 2020 Malawian presidential election, Henry Tumukunde called for all opposition parties in Uganda to unite behind a single presidential candidate in 2021.

Henry Tumukunde ran as an independent candidate for president in the 2021 Ugandan general election.

On capturing power, Henry Tumukunde was promoted to the rank of major and appointed first secretary and military attache at the Ugandan Embassy in the United Kingdom.

Subsequently, Henry Tumukunde was sent on a Senior Command and Staff Course at the Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji, in Kaduna, Nigeria, from where he emerged as one of the best students.

Henry Tumukunde served in this role for many years and was very instrumental in the setup of formal military structures in the UPDF, which had until then been a rebel army.

In 1994, Uganda held elections for the Constituent Assembly and Henry Tumukunde sought to represent his home county, Rubabo in Rukungiri district.

Henry Tumukunde's main competitor was a government minister and senior figure Mondo Kagonyera.

Henry Tumukunde, who was in early thirties at the time, was thought to be the underdog in the race; however, Henry Tumukunde was a very good mobiliser and won by a landslide margin.

Henry Tumukunde then joined the CA, which formulated the current 1995 Ugandan Constitution.

Henry Tumukunde was known to be a regular and astute contributor to the sessions and debates that preceded the formation of the Constitution.

Henry Tumukunde went on to serve as an MP until 2005.

Henry Tumukunde is credited with having introduced the promotional exams system for officers in the army which remains in use to date.

In 1998, Henry Tumukunde was again promoted to the rank of colonel and appointed chief of military intelligence and security.

Henry Tumukunde's tenure was arguably the most successful by any officer as it is during this time that Al-Qaeda's plan to bomb the American embassy in Kampala was thwarted.

Henry Tumukunde built an amicable rapport with the Muslim community, which many had accused of spearheading the attacks, so much so that key intelligence information was forwarded to him with ease.

Henry Tumukunde was then promoted to the rank of brigadier general and transferred to command the UPDF Fourth Division based in Gulu.

At the time, the war with the LRA was ongoing and Henry Tumukunde made significant headway during his time as Division Commanding Officer in diminishing the threat of the Lords Resistance Army.

Henry Tumukunde later played a role in initiating the peace negotiations process with the rebels and directed the army's efforts in containing the Ebola virus epidemic which had hit the Northern Uganda region at the time.

In 2000, Henry Tumukunde was appointed as the director general of the Internal Security Organisation, Uganda's domestic intelligence agency.

Henry Tumukunde's fast rise to the upper echelons of both the political and military scene in Uganda marked him out as one of Uganda's most popular and well-known figures and ultimately, this, alongside his very strong minded and unrelenting dedication to his country, brought him into the sights of the very institutions he helped to consolidate.

Henry Tumukunde stated that this would be in direct contravention of the rights that they had fought to establish and that he was not willing to take part in what he considered to be grossly unconstitutional behaviour.

Henry Tumukunde was charged with the offences of 'abuse of office' and 'spreading harmful propaganda'.

Henry Tumukunde was on 28 May 2005 forced to resign from Parliament and subsequently arrested on the orders of the president.

Henry Tumukunde's home was surrounded by at least 50 soldiers commanded by generals Kale Kayihura and Joshua Masaba who arrested him.

Henry Tumukunde was taken to an officers' mess turned detention center, where he was incarcerated for nearly two years, during which time he had limited and tightly controlled contact with the outside world.

Henry Tumukunde's arrest followed his opposing views to the proposed "kisanja" project that suggested a revision to the Constitution of Uganda enabling one to serve an unlimited number of terms as president, removing the two-term maximum limit.

The charge of spreading harmful propaganda was dropped while the joint charge of military misconduct was upheld and Henry Tumukunde was sentenced to a severe reprimand.

On 12 March 2020, less than two weeks after announcing his presidential bid, General Henry Tumukunde was arrested at his office in Kampala on allegations of treason.

On 19 November 2020, Henry Tumukunde suspended his presidential campaign in response to the arrest of fellow opposition candidate Bobi Wine.

On 1 September 2015, the Daily Monitor reported that Henry Tumukunde had been promoted to the rank of lieutenant general and then retired with full honours from the Army after thirty four years of service.

Henry Tumukunde was relieved of his cabinet responsibilities on the evening of Sunday, 4 March 2018, in a presidential tweet, in which General Kale Kayihura, the inspector general of police, was fired.