Son of Uganda CDF graduates from Sandhurst

BY DIRAMAKINI

OFFICER Cadet Ruhamya Kainerugaba, son of Uganda’s Chief of Defence Forces General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, on Friday graduated from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst after completing the institution’s 44-week Officer Commissioning Course.

The ceremony, held at the academy’s historic campus in Camberley, Surrey, marked the commissioning of Ruhamya alongside fellow Ugandan Officer Cadet Andrew Bakira and cadets from Britain and other partner nations.

Father and Son, 27 Years Apart

Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba attended the parade and witnessed his son’s commissioning. He was received ahead of the ceremony by Major General Nick Cowley OBE, the Academy Commandant, who presented him with a Sandhurst Alumni medal.

The medal was introduced after Gen. Muhoozi’s own graduation from Sandhurst in 2000, making the recognition a symbolic link between generations.

In the lead-up to the parade, the CDF shared side-by-side photos of himself as a cadet and of Ruhamya in training, noting “father and son going through the same hardships, separated by 27 years.”

Rigorous Training for UPDF Leadership

The Sandhurst commissioning course is regarded as one of the world’s most demanding military leadership programs.

Over 44 weeks, cadets receive intensive instruction in infantry tactics, weapons systems, fieldcraft, operational planning, ethics, and command under pressure.

Upon commissioning, Ruhamya and Bakira will return to the Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces (UPDF) for deployment.

"Serve to Lead”: Warning of a Changing World

Addressing the new officers, General Sir Roly Walker, Chief of the General Staff of the British Army, warned that the era of assured Western military dominance is ending.

“We had every confidence that it was a world in which we dominated militarily... and for reasons that are obvious to us all now, that world is fading fast,” Gen. Walker said. “The spectre of general war is not,with little assurance of perpetual military dominance.”He said the shift makes the role of young officers more critical.

“There is an absolute clarity to your purpose, which is to be ready to fight and win your nation’s battles... Our nations will need their soldiers. Those soldiers will need to be led. They deserve the best leaders.”

Gen. Walker reminded the cadets that their first duty is to earn the trust of their troops.

“That is the simplicity of the motto of this place: Serve to Lead. And we ask nothing more from you,”he said.

He concluded by expressing confidence in the new cohort, stating “the future is in good hands.”

The graduation of two Ugandan officers at Sandhurst underscores deepening military cooperation between Uganda and the UK, and highlights the UPDF’s continued investment in professional officer training abroad.(UPDF)