Col Nakalema, Brig Byekwaso, SFC’s Brig Chandia Sent For 1 Year Training Course

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By Uganda Online Media

Kampala: The Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) Spokesperson Brig Flavia Byekwaso, State House Anti Corruption unit head, Col Edith Nakalema, Brig Peter Chandia, the Acting Commander of Special Forces Command(SFC) have been sent to a one-year training course at the newly established National Defence College in Jinja.

According to Daily Monitor, the message was sent last Tuesday and the officers are expected to hand over offices to their deputies before leaving for the course.

The trio has been sent to the training along with several army commanders above the rank of Colonel and the list is yet to be confirmed.

Brig Byekwaso further confirmed that indeed she was going for the course but when asked to confirm whether Brig Chandia and Col Nakalema are also joining her, she said she is yet to get a full list of the officers going for training.

“It is true. I am going for the training,” Brig Byekwaso confirmed in an interview with Daily Monitor.

About Edith Nakalema

Colonel Edith Nakalema, is a Ugandan military officer, who graduated in August 2018 from the Higher Command and Staff Course at the Joint Services Command and Staff College, in Watchfield, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom, where she had been admitted in 2017.

Prior to her arrival at the Uganda State House, Nakalema had worked in the finance department of the Special Forces Command (SFC).

She was part of a team that established a working financial and accounting system at the SFC.

 In 2014, she was appointed to be the personal private secretary (PPS) to the president of Uganda, on the recommendation of the SFC.

In November 2016, her role was elevated to that of personal assistant to the president, specifically taking charge of the president’s daily itinerary. She was replaced as PPS, by Molly Kamukama, a civilian.

In June 2017, Nakalema was selected to attend senior military training in the United Kingdom.

In December 2018, Nakalema was introduced at a public function as a Lieutenant Colonel, who is the head of the Presidential Anti-Corruption Unit, based at State House, in Kampala.

In April 2021, the Commander-in-Chief of the UPDF promoted a total of 1,393 military officers. Among those promoted was Edith Nakalema, who was promoted from Lieutenant Colonel to full Colonel.

About Flavia Byekwaso

Brigadier Flavia Byekwaso is a Ugandan military officer, who serves as an elected member of parliament representing the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) in the 10th Parliament (2016–2021).

On 1 August 2020, she was appointed Spokesperson of the UPDF, replacing Brigadier Richard Karemire, who was transferred to the East African Community headquarters as the Defence Liaison Officer.

Flavia Byekwaso was recruited by the Ugandan military in 2000, starting out as a protocol officer. Over time, she worked in different roles, including as a military assistant as an administrative officer, and a logistics officer. She spent the years from 2014 until 2016 serving as the Director of Logistics in the Uganda People’s Defence Forces.

In 2016, at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, she was elected to be one of the ten military men and women who represent the UPDF in the 10th Parliament (2016–2021).

 In 2019, in a promotions exercise involving over 2,000 men and women in the UPDF, she was promoted from the rank of Colonel to the rank of Brigadier General.

In her new capacity, she is the second-highest-ranking woman in the UPDF, behind Proscovia Nalweyiso, whose new rank is Lieutenant General.

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