The Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) has announced that it will not have any civilian legal officer on its General Court Martial panel. Although some Supreme Court Justices guided that military courts need to have qualified and practicing legal officers drawn from courts of judicature for independence purposes, UPDF has said it will have no any civilian on its GCM panel when the reconstitution process is done.
Maj Gen Felix Kulayigye, the UPDF Spokesperson, said the Army has qualified High Court advocates and therefore they do not need to incorporate any civilian legal person on GCM panel. Supreme Court Justices indicated that having a panel comprised of only military panels challenges the independence aspect as its members are bond to give their judgements in favor of the appointing authority.
It is now eight months ever since the Supreme Court demised the GCM. The delayed reconstitution of the GCM has left some UPDF senior officers languishing at Makindye military barracks for months without trial. Some of these include Col Patrick Semakula who was UPDF’s Chief of Communication and Information Technology and arrested in February this year on allegations of receiving $300,000 (UGX 1.1Billion) to spy for a Southern African Development Community (SADC) member.
Others include Col Peter Ahimbisibwe, and Lt Col Ephraim Byaruhanga who were arrested in June on accusations of orchestrating terror acts in Kampala and subsequently linked them to Allied Democratic Forces (ADF). In the Supreme Court ruling, the Justices led by Chief Justice Alfonse Owiny Dollo, demise the GCM and ordered that civilians should never be charged in military tribunals including soldiers facing capital offences.
However, the Parliament passed UPDF (Amendment) Bill, 2025 on May 20, 2025 and it was assented to by President Yoweri Museveni on June 16. The army leadership hasn’t reconstituted the GCM which has left senior military officers in custody without known fate.
The UPDF amendment sends civilians and soldiers of capital offences back to GCM. In the new law, civilians who acquire arms or equipment used for violence, those who masquerade as militants, and those who commit offences in collaboration with military personnel are liable to military trial. The civilians in military custody linked to CMI fake bomb probe were named by military sources as Hamza and Livaara
Asked on whether UPDF has plans to release the officers in its custody since the GCM hasn’t been put in place, Maj Gen Kulayigye said: “So, you want to guide us on how to handle our officers? I cannot speak about how we handle our matters.”