Museveni, his brother Salim Saleh awarded Katonga medals
The Katonga medal is the highest military decoration according to the Ugandan Honours system.
President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni was on Monday 06th February 2023 awarded with the Order of Katonga, the highest military star medal during the 42nd Tarehe Sita celebrations in Mbarara, western Uganda.
The star medal was decorated to him by Chief justice Alfonse Owiny Dollo.
Also to receive the “Order of Katonga”, medal President Museveni’s young brother Gen Salim Saleh.
Gen Ivan Koreta and Brig Bosco Omule received the Kabalega star medal for their contribution towards the creation of the UPDF.
The Order of Katonga also known as the Nishani ya Katonga is the highest military decoration of the Ugandan Honours System. It is awarded very rarely for extraordinary heroism.
The order is named after the final and decisive battle of the National Resistance Army during the Ugandan Bush War which was fought near the Katonga River.
President Yoweri Museveni decorated the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi on 6 April 2004 in Tripoli, honouring him for his contribution to the National Resistance Army (NRA) bush struggle that liberated Uganda from dictatorship.
At the time, Colonel Gaddafi had always been at the forefront of the liberation of Africa and the unification of the continent.
Museveni also posthumously awarded former Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere in July 2007 at his hometown of Butiama for his assistance in liberating Africa from colonialism in general and Uganda from Idi Amin’s rule. Nyerere’s wife Maria received the award on his behalf.
The Katonga medal is the highest military decoration according to the Ugandan Honours system.
President Museveni becomes the third person to get the Katonga star medal after the late Col. Muammar Gadafi who was awarded on April 6 2004, and President Julius Nyerere in July 2007.
Celebrated on February 6 every year, Tarehe Sita a Kiswahili statement for the sixth day is when 40 combatants took to the Luweero bushes through the attack at Kabamba on this exact date to launch an epic five-year struggle that ushered the National Resistance Movement into power.
