General David Sejusa (born 13 November 1954[1]) (aka David Tinyefuza) is a Ugandan lawyer, military officer and politician. He was the coordinator of intelligence services and a senior presidential adviser to President of Uganda Yoweri Museveni. He served as army commander and also a member of High Command UPDF,[clarification needed] the UPDF defense council and a member of parliament representing the Uganda People's Defence Force. He had a falling-out with Museveni and formed the Freedom and Unity Front in exile in the United Kingdom following being charged for plotting a coup[2] where he has been allegedly planning anti-government activities by the Museveni government.[3]
Early and personal life
editTinyefuza attended Nyakasura School. He holds the degree of Bachelor of Laws Honours (LLB) and Master of Laws (LLM) from Makerere University. He also attended the Law Development Centre for the diploma in legal practice where he left after a clerkship for cadet training in Tanzania. He was also a student leader(head of students' guild) at Makerere University. He has obtained the senior command qualifications of PSC[clarification needed] from the Uganda Senior Command and Staff College at Kimaka, Jinja, Uganda. He also holds a certificate in information technology from an institution[which?] in Canada. He also attended the police cadet course in Tanzania and senior command strategic course.[4]
He is married to Juliet Tinyefuza.[4]
Name change
editThis section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources. (June 2023) |
On 17 February 2012, David Tinyefuza officially changed his name to David Sejusa. He said that Sejusa is a family name that is also reflected on some of his academic documents but that he had abandoned it "around secondary school level" but that he would re-claim as "everybody back home" refers to him as such. He added: "There is nothing in reverting to my original name. It is comrades like you who didn’t know it was my name but those elder comrades have always referred to me as such. And I suggest that from today you quote me as Gen. David Sejusa."
The Sejusa name is a Luganda rendering that is loosely translated as "I have no regrets;" it also has the same meaning in the Ankole rendition of Tinyefuza, which he said was a reason to take a new identity.
Military career
editPrior to 1981, David Tinyefuza was a policeman with the Uganda Police Force serving as Assistant Superintendent of Police. In 1981, he became a combatant in the Uganda Bush War between the Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA) of Milton Obote and the National Resistance Army (NRA) of Yoweri Museveni, from 1981 until 1986. For a period of 10 years following the victory of the NRA in 1986, he served as a member of the National Resistance Army Council (NRAC) and the National Executive Committee (NEC). Between 1989 and 1992, he served as Minister of State for Defense. In 1993, he was appointed Presidential Adviser on Peace and Security, serving in that capacity until 1997. He was appointed Senior Presidential Adviser and Coordinator of Intelligence in 2005, a position he held until 2013.[4][5]
On 31 August 2022, Sejusa and 34 other generals were retired from the UPDF.
Politics
editThe party was founded in November 2013[6] with an official announcement later made in London, United Kingdom, where former General David Sejusa was in exile. Sejusa said of President Yoweri Museveni: "He's had enough time. He can leave and go, and we start a new process of national healing. And we are organising ourselves, we are establishing a constitutional rule which he destroyed." Sejusa denied seeking the presidency and said that it was "a waste of time" to run against Museveni within the structures of the current system. Two months earlier, Museveni challenged Sejusa to try to overthrow him, but added that whoever uses violence would be stopped. "If Sejusa wants to use force, let him come." In turn, Sejusa responded to questions of whether he would use force to bring change and said: "It's not so much that we want to do so. But if he continues to unleash terror on the population ours will be self defence."
Following a rift with the establishment in May 2013 about Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni's son, Muhoozi Kainerugaba, over allegation of nepotism and that he would eventually simply replace his father as president, a motion Kainerugaba denied, he founded the Freedom and Unity Front.[7] Sejusa had earlier called on Ugandans to "build alternative capacity" and remove Museveni. He added, the week following his departure as an MP representing the military, that "no one should imagine that Museveni will be removed through elections."[8]
References
edit- ^ "General David Sejusa (Tinyefuza) | Profile | Africa Confidential". www.africa-confidential.com. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
- ^ "Uganda charges four in alleged coup plot - Kigalipost.com". Archived from the original on 10 August 2014. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
- ^ "AroniSmart - AroniSmart". Afroamerica.net. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
- ^ a b c "Parliament of Uganda Website". Parliament.go.ug. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
- ^ [1] [dead link]
- ^ James Butty. "Ugandan President Accused of Subverting East African Community". Voanews.com. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
- ^ "Dissident Ugandan general launches new party". Al Jazeera English. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
- ^ "Renegade Ugandan general declares war on Museveni". Sudan Tribune. Retrieved 16 December 2013.