Museveni names Gen Tukachungurwa as new General Court Martial chairman

President Yoweri Museveni has appointed Brig Richard Tukachungurwa as Head of the Uganda People's Defence Force (UPDF) General Court Martial (GCM). 

The announcement comes as the Judicial Service Commission reported having advised on new appointments — a sign the military justice system is being reconstituted after months of legal uncertainty and institutional upheaval.

Tukacungurwa replaces Robert Freeman Mugabe (Brig-Gen), who had served as GCM chairman since 2022. 

Previously, from 2016 until 2022, the GCM was led by Andrew Gutti (Lt-Gen), who had succeeded the late Levi Karuhanga. 

In the new appointments, Museveni also named nine members of the General Court Martial who will serve under Gen Tukachungurwa. These include:

Col Wankandya Simon Tusah

Col Asha Patra

Col Kangwamu Fredrick

Col Mugisha Raphael

Lt Col Igambi Mohammedie Nasser

Maj Amodoi Samuel Moses

Maj Arihaihi Emmanuel

Maj Nyombi Abubaker

Maj Chemtai Denis

Museveni further appointed chairpersons of Division Court Martials: Lt Col Drani Epalu David for the Fourth Division, and Lt Col Mulyanti Yaqoub Hassan for the One Special Forces Group.

The reconstituted GCM now operates under a revised legal framework requiring higher professional and legal qualifications for its leaders. 

While government argues that the new system strengthens judicial discipline within the UPDF, critics warn that despite narrower jurisdiction, military trials of civilians remain a contentious issue.

The re-appointment of a new GCM chairman comes in the wake of a dramatic legal ruling earlier in 2025. 

On 31 January 2025, the Supreme Court of Uganda unanimously declared that military courts — including the General Court Martial — lacked jurisdiction to try civilians. 

It found key provisions of the Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces Act unconstitutional, ruling that the structure of the army courts violated constitutional rights to a fair and impartial trial. 

The Supreme Court directed that all ongoing and pending criminal cases against civilians before the GCM be suspended and transferred to civilian courts, under the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). 

The verdict effectively dissolved the GCM’s broad criminal-jurisdiction role over civilians. Military courts were henceforth limited to disciplinary matters and offences involving serving UPDF personnel. 

Despite the Supreme Court’s ruling, the government moved swiftly in Parliament and 20 May 2025, lawmakers passed a sweeping amendment to the UPDF Act — the Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces (Amendment) Act, 2025 — which reinstated military courts’ power to try civilians under “exceptional circumstances”: for example, offences involving unlawful possession of military weapons, espionage or crimes that threaten national security or UPDF operations. 

Under the new law the military justice system was restructured into a three-tier system — Unit Court Martial (UCM), Division Court Martial (DCM) and General Court Martial (GCM). 

The heads of these courts must now meet stricter legal qualifications, including being advocates or eligible for High Court appointment. 

The reformed GCM — the top tier — will be headed by a brigadier-rank officer qualified to be a High Court judge, appointed by the High Command in consultation with the Judicial Service Commission.

The following month, on 16 June 2025, President Museveni assented to the Amendment Act, formally re-instating military courts’ power to try civilians in specified cases. 

In effect, this legislative move reversed the Supreme Court’s January ruling — restoring the GCM and other courts martial as active elements in Uganda’s justice system.