Aronda Nyakairima (7 July 1959 – 12 September 2015) was a

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

military officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer, or a warrant officer. However, absent context ...

and politician who served in the

cabinet of Uganda There are 32 Cabinet ministers and 50 Ministers of State in the Cabinet of Uganda (2021 to 2026). According to Section 111 of the 1995 Constitution of Uganda, as amended in 2005, "There shall be a Cabinet which shall consist of the President, t ...

as minister of internal affairs from 2013 until his death on 11 September 2015. Previously, he served as the chief of defence forces in the

Uganda People's Defence Force The Uganda People's Defence Force (UPDF), previously known as the National Resistance Army, is the armed forces of Uganda. From 2007 to 2011, the International Institute for Strategic Studies estimated the UPDF had a total strength of 40,000–4 ...

(UPDF) from 2003 to 2013.

Early life and education

Nyakairima was born in

Rukungiri District Rukungiri District is a district in the Western Region of Uganda. The town of Rukungiri is the site of the district headquarters. Location The district is bordered by Lake Edward to the North West, Rubirizi District to the northeast, Mitooma Dis ...

. He attended Lubiri Senior Secondary School for his O-Level studies from 1971 until 1974. Between 1975 and 1977, he studied at Kitgum High School in

Kitgum District Kitgum District is a district in Northern Uganda. It is named after its major town of Kitgum, where the district headquarters is located. It has suffered many deaths and social disruption resulting from the 20-year civil war within the region duri ...

for his A-Level education. He joined

Makerere University Makerere University, Kampala (; Mak) is Uganda's largest and oldest institution of higher learning, first established as a technical school in 1922. It became an independent national university in 1970. Today, Makerere University is composed of ni ...

in 1978, graduating in 1981 with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in political science. He attended the basic officers course in 1989, after the

National Resistance Army The National Resistance Army (NRA), the military wing of the National Resistance Movement (NRM), was a rebel army that waged a guerrilla war, commonly referred to as the Ugandan Bush War or Luwero War, against the government of Milton Obote, and l ...

(NRA) had captured power in

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and Ruba ...

, Uganda's capital city. He later attended a course in strategic studies at

Fort Leavenworth Fort Leavenworth () is a United States Army installation located in Leavenworth County, Kansas, in the city of Leavenworth, Kansas, Leavenworth. Built in 1827, it is the second oldest active United States Army post west of Washington, D.C., an ...

in the United States. He also has further military qualifications from the

Egyptian Military Academy The Egyptian Military Academy ( ar, الكلية الحربية) is the oldest and most prominent military academy in Egypt. Traditionally, graduates of the Military Academy are commissioned as officers in the Egyptian Army. However, they may se ...

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

Military career

He joined the NRA in 1982, soon after leaving Makerere University. After the NRA captured power, he worked as an intelligence officer in the Ugandan military. He later was appointed assistant director in the Directorate of Military Intelligence in the UPDF. He was then transferred to the Presidential Protection Unit as an intelligence officer. From there, he served as the commanding officer of the Armored Brigade before his appointment as commander of the UPDF in 2003. He has represented the UPDF in the Ugandan parliament since 1996. In October 2010, Nyakairima was inducted into the International Hall of Fame at the Lewis and Clark Centre at Fort Leavenworth for attaining the highest position in the military of his country. Nyakairima was inducted together with General Eui Don Wang of

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

, a 1986 graduate of the command college, and Major General Richard Rhys Jones of

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, a 1992 graduate. Nyakairmina was appointed to the cabinet as minister of internal affairs on 23 May 2013.

Katumba Wamala Edward Katumba Wamala (born 19 November 1956), more commonly known as Katumba Wamala, is a Ugandan general who serves as Minister of Works and Transport in the Ugandan cabinet, since 14 December 2019. Before that, from 17 January 2017 until ...

was appointed to replace him as chief of defense forces on the same day.

Personal life

Nyakairima was married to Linda Kahooza with whom he had two children. He was fluent in multiple languages, including

Luganda The Ganda language or Luganda (, , ) is a Bantu language spoken in the African Great Lakes region. It is one of the major languages in Uganda and is spoken by more than 10 million Baganda and other people principally in central Uganda including ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Luo Luo may refer to: Luo peoples and languages *Luo peoples, an ethno-linguistic group of eastern and central Africa **Luo people of Kenya and Tanzania or Joluo, an ethnic group in western Kenya, eastern Uganda, and northern Tanzania. ***Luoland, the ...

Runyakitara Runyakitara is a standardized language based on four closely related languages of western Uganda: * Nyoro or ''Runyoro'' * Kiga (Chiga) or ''Rukiga'' * Nkore or ''Runyankole'' * Tooro or ''Rutooro'' Jouni Filip Maho's 2009 New Updated Guthrie ...

, and Swahili. On 12 September 2015, while traveling on official duties from South Korea to Dubai, he suffered a heart attack. He was later confirmed dead at the age of 56 years.

References

External links

Gen. Aronda’s legacy lives on one year later

Ft. Leavenworth Honors Three Foreign Generals
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nyakairima, Aronda 1959 births 2015 deaths People from Rukungiri District Members of the Parliament of Uganda Ugandan military personnel Makerere University alumni Government ministers of Uganda Ugandan Anglicans Ugandan generals Egyptian Military Academy alumni

Early life and education

Military career

Personal life

See also

References

External links