Introduction
On 15th July 2024 President Museveni, in a strategic move, appointed General Peter Elwelu to the position of Presidential Monitor of Government Programs in Teso and Karamoja Sub-Region. An interesting move given the large number of Government Projects expected in the area in coming months and years as well as the shift to NRM in Teso and opposition groups making inroads in the Karamoja sub-region as many decry the misuse of government programs.
Lieutenant General Elwelu a veteran soldier that has fought and won multiple battles across the IGAD Region vowed in a recent interview to “strangle the corrupt.”
We aim to break this story down from a strategic and tactical perspective
Who is General Elwelu?
Lt. General Peter Elwelu is a Lieutenant General in the Uganda People’s Defense Force (UPDF). He currently holds the position of UPDF Member of Parliament and Presidential Monitor in Teso and Karamoja Teso sub-regions respectively.
According to the Ministry of Defense and Veteran’s Affairs Website “He was formerly the Deputy Chief of the Defense Forces of the UPDF, which he was appointed to on 24 June 2021. Prior to this, he served as the commander of land forces from 9 January 2017, which is the fourth-highest position in the UPDF hierarchy. From June 2013 until January 2017, he was the commander of the UPDF 2nd division, which is based in Mbarara, the largest town in Uganda’s Western Region.
Military Record
Afande Peter Elwelu reportedly joined the Ugandan military in 1987 after attending the Tanzania Military Academy in Monduli. He was then posted to the military installation at Kabamba and later transferred to the Cadet Officer School at the Gaddafi military barracks in Jinja in 1995.
He served as a commander within the UPDF during the invasion of Zaire and the overthrow of Mobutu Sese Seko, alongside the Rwandan military. He was later deployed to the Northern Region in 1999 to fight Joseph Kony and his guerilla lord’s resistance army (LRA). During this tour, he survived being shot in the back.
In 2007, Elwelu commanded the first Uganda military contingent when the country sent troops to Somalia under the African Union Mission to Somalia. He received commendation from the UPDF chief of defense forces, General Katumba Wamala, for his role on that tour.
In June 2013, Elwelu was appointed commander of the 2nd UPDF Division based at Mbarara, having previously served as the commander of the UPDF 3rd Division based at Moroto.
Elwelu made his first visit to UPDF troops in Somalia under AMISOM on Wednesday 22 March 2017 in his capacity as the UPDF Land forces commander. According to the spokesman of the Ugandan contingent in Somalia, the general’s visit was to “check on the operational tempo, boost the morale of the troops, and also update the troops on the situation in Uganda.”
In February 2019, over 2,000 men and women in the UPDF received promotions, including Elwelu, who was promoted from the rank of Major General to that of Lieutenant General.” (MODVA, UPDF) He has always been outspoken about his faith and in 2022 he shocked many by climbing Moruajore (Mountain of Warriors) in Karamoja with Karimojong Elders and his UPDF team to curse warriors.
Setting the stage
As we have said in multiple articles the NRA-NRM is grappling with the challenge of shifting from an armed struggle to a struggle for socio-economic transformation. In the modern Uganda poverty has replaced rebel groups and terrorism as the main thief, killer, and destroyer in the population. To this end the government has launched several poverty eradication schemes and programs such as Parish Development Model, Emyooga for SACCOs, Youth Livelihood Fund, Women’s Entrepreneurship Fund across the whole country and a host of other programs targeting former war-torn regions such in the North and East such as Northern Uganda Social Action Fund, Development Initiative for Northern Uganda, Karamoja Integrated Disarmament and Development Plan etc.
Karamoja alone receives around $50 million USD from Donors annually alongside hundreds of billions of shillings that go to the local governments, municipalities, and town councils. The fact that billions have entered Karamoja and Teso with little change and sometimes reversals in Human development indicators many state and non-state actors are wondering what the problem is and why Teso and Karamoja still lag?
Many donors have left the region due to lack of success of multi-billion projects for example many donors have abandoned the street children because of failure of previous multi-billion projects to return them
Why Elwelu?
As the NRM-NRA still maintains its military roots it has decided to treat poverty as it would any other national security threat. It appears President Museveni has chosen General Elwelu precisely because he is familiar with his mode of operations.
In 2020 While Commissioning a medical facility President Museveni state that “We [His Government] will run the country they way they fought the war”. This has since signaled a shift and we have seen the military move into sectors such as Business, Agriculture, Production and Public Infrastructure through its commercial Special Purpose Vehicle called National Enterprise Corporation.
One interviewee told us “It appears the President is fed up of government officials that have shifted from leadership to dealership” one interviewee stated.
Why Now?
If Uganda to achieve the target of a $500 billion Economy, it must not only ensure quality service delivery (High tech hospitals, schools, water facilities) and quality infrastructure but also improve the quantity and quality of our exports exponentially while simultaneously making investment in our country attractive for international and domestic investors.
Through the 10 year, 14 trillion, Karamoja Regional Development Plan the government is taking efforts to extend electricity, roads, ICT, water infrastructure around the country and now is the time to take advantage of it, alongside multi-billion projects in Teso such as expansion of Soroti Airport, Railway and Lake Kyoga Irrigation Scheme many were preparing to not eat but swallow these billions and cause the ambitious project to become another white elephant.
This is why we believe President Museveni has appointed the eccentric, no-nonsense and tough talking General Elwelu for this special operation to eradicate poverty in North-Eastern Uganda.
Criticisms of his appointment
At a recent Online Meeting some people raised concerns since the General was recently sanctioned to his alleged role in human rights abuses linked to his role in the 2017 violence in Kasese. Others feared for the safety of the civic space in Karamoja "will we still be able to talk?" they asked. Another commentator said it may be a deployment for mineral exctraction.
Supporters of his appointment
One commentator from Moroto, when informed that the General promised to strangle corrupt people told us “Elwelu is crazy but we in Karamoja need a crazy person to sort out our problem of corruption” Others say it is a welcome appointment in that Karamoja has long grappled with service delivery despite billions in investment.
Conclusion
Will the eccentric and tough talking General be the knight that slays the dragon of corruption in Teso and Karamoja? Will he provide leadership or will he fall into the trap of dealership?
We leave this conclusion to you our dear readers.
Thanks for reading,
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