General David Sejusa (born 13 November 1954) (aka David Tinyefuza) is a Ugandan lawyer,
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. He was the coordinator of intelligence services and a senior presidential adviser to
President of Uganda
The president of the Republic of Uganda is the head of state and the head of government of Uganda. The president leads the executive branch of the government of Uganda and is the commander-in-chief of the Uganda People's Defence Force.
The in ...
Yoweri Museveni
Yoweri Kaguta Museveni Tibuhaburwa (born 15 September 1944) is a Ugandan politician and retired senior military officer who has been the 9th and current President of Uganda since 26 January 1986. Museveni spearheaded rebellions with aid of then ...
. He served as army commander and also a member of High Command UPDF, the UPDF defense council and a
member of parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
representing 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 ...
. He had a falling out with Museveni and formed the
Freedom and Unity Front in exile in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
following being charged for plotting a coup where he has been allegedly planning anti-government activities by the Museveni government.
Early and personal life
Tinyefuza attended Nyakasura High School. He holds the degree of Bachelor of Laws Honours (LLB) and Master of Laws (LLM) from
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 ...
. 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. A resident of Mitchel Hall at the university. He has obtained the senior command qualifications of PSC from the
Uganda Senior Command and Staff College
The Uganda Senior Command and Staff College (USCSC) is a training facility for senior commanders in the Uganda People's Defense Force (UPDF), including the army, air force, and special forces.
Location
The facility is located in Kimaka, a subu ...
at
Kimaka
Kimaka is a neighborhood in the city of Jinja, in the Eastern Region of Uganda.
Location
Kimaka is bordered by to the west by the Nile River, (from Nalubaale Power Station to Bujagali Power Station), to the south by the Kampala-Jinja Highway ...
,
Jinja, Uganda
Jinja is a city in the Eastern Region of Uganda, located on the North shores of Lake Victoria.
Location
Jinja is in Jinja District, Busoga sub-region, in the Eastern Region of Uganda. It is approximately , by road, east of Kampala, the capita ...
. He also holds a Certificate in Information Technology from an institution in Canada. He also attended the Police Cadet Course in Tanzania and Senior Command Strategic Course.
He is married to Juliet Tinyefuza.
Name change
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
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 ...
rendering that is loosely translated as "I have no regrets;" it also has the same meaning in the
Ankole
Ankole (Nkore language, Runyankore: ''Nkore''), was a traditional Bantu peoples, Bantu kingdom in Uganda and lasted from the 15th century until 1967. The kingdom was located in south-western Uganda, east of Lake Edward.
History
Ankole Realm, K ...
rendition of Tinyefuza, which he said was a reason to take a new identity.
Military career
Prior to 1981, David Tinyefuza was a policeman with the
Uganda Police Force
The Uganda Police Force is the national police force of Uganda. The head of the force is called the Inspector General of Police (IGP). The current IGP is Martin Okoth Ochola. Ochola replaced former IGP, General Kale Kayihura in March 2018. Rec ...
serving as Assistant Superintendent of Police. In 1981, he became a combatant in the
Uganda Bush War
The Ugandan Bush War, also known as the Luwero War, the Ugandan Civil War or the Resistance War, was a civil war fought in Uganda by the official Ugandan government and its armed wing, the Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA), against a number o ...
between the
Uganda National Liberation Army
The Uganda National Liberation Front (UNLF) was a political group formed by exiled Ugandans opposed to the rule of Idi Amin with an accompanying military wing, the Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA). UNLA fought alongside Tanzanian forces in ...
(UNLA) of
Milton Obote
Apollo Milton Obote (28 December 1925 – 10 October 2005) was a Ugandan political leader who led Uganda to independence from British colonial rule in 1962. Following the nation's independence, he served as prime minister of Uganda from 1962 to ...
and 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) of
Yoweri Museveni
Yoweri Kaguta Museveni Tibuhaburwa (born 15 September 1944) is a Ugandan politician and retired senior military officer who has been the 9th and current President of Uganda since 26 January 1986. Museveni spearheaded rebellions with aid of then ...
, 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.
On 31st August 2022, Sejusa with other 34 generals were retired from the UPDF
Politics
The party was founded in November 2013
with an official announcement later made in London, United Kingdom, where former General David Sejusa was in
exile
Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples suf ...
. Sejusa said of President
Yoweri Museveni
Yoweri Kaguta Museveni Tibuhaburwa (born 15 September 1944) is a Ugandan politician and retired senior military officer who has been the 9th and current President of Uganda since 26 January 1986. Museveni spearheaded rebellions with aid of then ...
: "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
Yoweri Kaguta Museveni Tibuhaburwa (born 15 September 1944) is a Ugandan politician and retired senior military officer who has been the 9th and current President of Uganda since 26 January 1986. Museveni spearheaded rebellions with aid of then ...
's son,
Muhoozi Kainerugaba
Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba (born 24 April 1974) is an Ugandan general and son of president Yoweri Museveni. He has been commander of the Special Forces Command (SFC) from 2008 to 2017, and again from December 2020 to 2021, then commander of the l ...
, 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. 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."
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sejusa, David
1954 births
Living people
Ugandan generals
Members of the Parliament of Uganda
Makerere University alumni
Uganda Senior Command and Staff College alumni
Government ministers of Uganda