Henry Tumukunde

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

He ran as an independent for president in the 2021 Ugandan general election.

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

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

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

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

The wounds were so major that it was thought he would not survive.

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

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

His main competitor was a government minister and senior figure Mondo Kagonyera.

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

Tumukunde was also a Member of Parliament representing the Army in the Parliament of Uganda between 1995 and 2005.

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

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

Following the adoption of the constitution, Uganda held elections and Tumukunde subsequently became a Member of Parliament representing the Army as a special interest group.

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

His 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.

He went on to serve as an MP until 2005.

In addition to this, Tumukunde was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel and appointed Chief of Personnel and Administration.

He is credited with having introduced the promotional exams system (PROMEX) for officers in the army which remains in use to date.

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

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

During his time at Makerere University, Tumukunde was involved in anti-government politics, which subsequently led to his joining of then rebels, the National Resistance Army, led by current Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni.

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

Obote's security services at the time caught wind of their impending departure for the bush and mounted an attack on the NRA's transit house, a shop in the country's capital city, Kampala.

It is said that Tumukunde alongside Muntu posed as shopkeepers, surviving what would have been sure torture and death.

In the early stages of the war, Tumukunde was a machine gunner and eventually went on to become one of the senior officers in the rebel army, indicated by his senior number RA 0111.

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

On 4 March 2018, he was relieved of his duties in an unexpected cabinet reshuffle.

He is also an advocate of the High Court of Uganda.

He has served as the Uganda Peoples Defence Forces (UPDF) 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.

He has also previously served as the director general of the Internal Security Organisation (ISO).

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

In a press briefing, Tumukunde attributed his decision to the fact that the NRM party and Yoweri Kaguta Museveni were not ready to discuss a peaceful transition of power.

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

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

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

Subsequently, 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.

On his return to Uganda he was appointed as the army's director of planning.

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.