Museveni promotes & deploys Okiding to Somalia

President Yoweri Museveni, the Commander in Chief (CiC) of the Uganda People’s Defense Forces (UPDF) has promoted Major General Sam Okiding to the rank of Lieutenant General.

The President has also appointed him as the Force Commander African Union Transition Mission In Somalia (ATMIS).

Lieutenant General Okiding has been serving in the capacity of Deputy Commander of Land Forces, a job he took up in June 2021 following his appointment by Museveni.

This will not be the first time that Lieutenant General Okiding will be deployed in Somalia.

Then a Brigadier, Lieutenant General Okiding, was deployed in Somalia to lead Sector 1 to fight Al Shabaab militants.

In his capacity as Deputy Commander of Land Forces, Lieutenant General Okiding in December 2021 presided over the charge of guard when Brigadier General Keith Katungi replaced Brig. Gen. Don Nabasa as the contingent commander of Ugandan troops serving under the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM).

Speaking in Somalia at the handover ceremony, Lieutenant General Okiding called for teamwork and commitment to Pan-Africanism.

He urged the soldiers to be good ambassadors of Uganda and Africa, and work towards a peaceful exit from Somalia when the time comes.