He has made news in the last few months and days over his intention to represent the people of Lwemiyaga in the next parliament and therefore unseat the current member of Parliament the Hon. Theodore Ssekikubo.
Many have questioned his capabilities to effectively represent Lwemiyaga constituency in Sembabule District and his possession of the minimum academic requirements needed for one to be a member of parliament. This article intends to unpack who Brig. Gen.(rtd) Emmanuel Rwashande is, his contributions to this country, and the plans he has for Lwemiyaga constituency.
Born around 1965, Emmanuel Rwashande joined the NRA in 1981 as a ‘Kadogo’, (aged between 16 -17years). He was taken to Nairobi Kenya and it is from there that he and other five were selected to go to Tripoli Libya for military training courtesy of Col. Muammar Qaddafi. This was the first batch ever to have attended training in Libya within the NRA ranks. Others were: Gen.(rtd) Kale Kaihura (former Inspector General of Police), Col.(rtd) Nuwe Amanya Mushega among others. He came back from the training in 1983 and joined other comrades in the bush and continued with the struggle to liberate this country until 1986 when Kampala fell.
When Kampala fell in 1986, Rwashande did not immediately come to Kampala but joined the western axis that went and captured Gulu ad the surrounding areas up to the Uganda-Sudan boarder. He only came to Kampala in 1989 while in the 163 brigade commanded by now Gen.(rtd) David Tinyefunza with clear instructions to fight criminality that had rocked Kampala during that time.
Later in 1989, Emmanuel was sent for an intelligence course in London, United Kingdom with others like Gayiira. After six months of training he returned to the country and was posted to the 6th Division in Moroto as the first Intelligence Officer of that division.
As any hard working soldier, Rwashande was recognized by his supervisors and recommended for more complex deployments, trainings and promotions. For instance he was once posted as a commander for the 121 battalion, attended a company commanders course in 1998, attended the Senior Staff and Command Course in 2003 in China Nanjing Command College, while in 2007 he attended the National Defence Course at the National Defence University in China.
Further more, Rwashande commanded Operation Iron Fist in Gulu and Southern Sudan with clear instructions to either capture or kill the Lord Resistance Army (LRA) commander Joseph Kony and end the insurgency in the north. Following the defeat of Kony and his LRA in Northern Uganda and Southern Sudan, the rebels relocated to the Central African Republic. Rwashande was appointed to persue the rebels further by commanding operation “Lightening Thunder” in the Central African Republic (CAR).
While in CAR, Rwashande and team captured Obbo one of the senior commanders of the LRA. He further captured the current President of CAR H.E. Faustin-Archange Touadéra, who was commanding a rebel group by then. Rwashande and Faustine reached a mutual agreement to protect the civilians and it was upon this agreement that Faustine was released. In appreciation of his efforts in pacifying CAR the President H.E. Faustin-Archange Touadéra, has written to Rwashande appreciating him and has sent a personal invitation him to be appreciated formally.
After his stint in CAR, Rwashande returned home and was appointed as the overall operations commander for AMISON based at Entebbe Airport until 2011 when the Commander in Chief appointed him as the Defence Attache’ to China. He was the first military officer to be appointed in this position.
While in China, Emmanuel encouraged many Chinese investors to set up factories in Uganda. He also secured over 100 scholarships for the UPDF to be trained in China and 20 scholarships for civilians. He further secured scholarships for children of fallen comrades and a number of them have attended university studies in different universities in China.
After 10years, his tour of duty in China ended and Rwashande was appointed at the Chief of Civil Military Cooperation in the Uganda Peoples Defence Forces (UPDF), a position he held until his retirement in Aril 2024.
Many would expect that a man who has had such an industrious military career would upon retirement go home and enjoy the rest of his life with his family. However this is not the case for Brig. Gen. Emmanuel Rwashande. He likes fighting injustices and challenging the status quo. This is the main reason why he has decided to offer himself to serve the people of Lwemiyaga in the next Parliament.
According to Rwashande, the people of Lwemiyaga are faced with injustices like land grabbing, health insecurity due to lack of health centres, income insecurities due to failure by the current member of parliament to monitor government wealth creation programs, poor road infrastructure, high infant mortality rates among others. He says these are the same reasons that took them to the bush in the 1980s but it is so disheartening that almost 40 years down the road, the status quo in Lwemiyaga has not changed despite the MP being in parliament for the last 25years.
Gen. Rwashande believes that the current member of Parliament Hon. Theodore Ssekikubo has only been serving his personal interests and abandoned the people who have been voting him in that position. For instance Lwemiyaga has only one Health Centre III whose land is also being claimed by the current MP. It is alleged that Ssekikubo has lodged a case in court claiming the land where the only Health Centre III is located. He is also involved in over 20 land grabbing cases hence leaving majority of the constituents landless and homeless.
As if that is not worse enough, Lwemiyaga has only one government secondary school which was last improved by Hon. Sam Rwakoojo who was the then Member of Parliament. He constructed classroom blocks that have not been cemented until recently when Rwashande intervened.
Gen. Emmanuel Rwashande also accuses the Ssekikubo for turning Lwemiyaga into a battle ground more so during elections and a number of people have senselessly lost their lives. It is until the General implored the authorities that security and sanity has returned to Lwemiyaga and Sembabule as a whole.
It is the above issues and more that have pushed Gen. Rwashande out of his retirement to rescue Lwemiyaga constituency and improve the lives of the constituents. But does he have the minimum requirements?
According to the letter from Uganda National Council for Higher Education, Gen. Emmanuel Rwashande possesses the minimum requirements to contest for the position of Member of Parliament. Rwashande has also been persuing a Bachelors Degree from Nkumba University and he is awaiting graduation.
From the look of things, the battle lines between Gen. Emmanuel Rwashande and Theodore Ssekikubo have been drawn. Given the volatile nature of elections in Sembabule District as a whole, the country waits to see who of the two will be declared the new member of parliament for Lwemiyaga come 2026.