Gregory Mugisha Muntuyera, commonly referred to as Mugisha Muntu, is a Ugandan politician and retired military officer
Background
Mugisha Muntu was born in October 1958 at Kitunga village in present-day Ntungamo District, Ankole sub-region, Western Uganda, to Enock Ruzima Muntuyera and Aida Matama Muntuyera. He had an affluent childhood as his father was a strong government functionary and close friend of Ugandan leader Milton Obote.
Education
He attended Mbarara Junior School, Kitunga Primary School and Kitunga High School. (Kitunga High School was later renamed Muntuyera High School, in memory of his father, by Obote) Muntu later attended Makerere College School.
Career
He served as the Commander of the Army, the highest position in the Ugandan military, from 1989 to 1998. When the National Resistance Army was renamed the Uganda People"s Defence Forces (UPDF), General Muntu became Commander of the UPDF. In 2008, he unsuccessfully contested for the FDC"s presidency, against Kizza Besigye. He was elected as party president in 2012.
He subsequently went on to graduate in political science from Makerere University where he was deputy president of the students union.
Early into the rebellion he was shot in the chest but survived after receiving treatment in Kampala. Later he emerged as the head of Military Intelligence after the National Rifle Association victory in 1986.
In military intelligence he had under his command personalities like Paul Kagame, who would later become the President of Rwanda. Mugisha Muntu underwent further military training in Russia before becoming a division commander in Northern Uganda.
He rose to the rank of Major General within the UPDF. His rapid promotion did not to go unnoticed by other senior officers in the Ugandan military.
He was later to serve as Commander of the UPDF. That post was later renamed Chief of Defence Forces of Uganda. As army chief, he oversaw the demobilization of many sections of the army. Observers have attributed Major
General
Mugisha Muntu"s quick ascension to the pinnacle of the National Rifle Association/UPDF to his reputation as an incorruptible and loyal officer to the President of Uganda. This loyalty was rewarded by the support of the President during Muntu"s many quarrels with sections of the army which accused him of trying to alienate them. Prominent among these were the so-called "uneducated" officers, led by Major General James Kazini.
Mugisha Muntu was accused of creating a schism within the army by showing preferential treatment to educated officers while sidelining those he considered uneducated.
After disagreeing with Museveni"s approach to politics and the military, he was removed from the army command and appointed as a minister, a position he politely turned down.
Politics
He has been President of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), an opposition political party, since 2012.
Membership
Muntu was a member of the constituent assembly (1994–1995) and parliamentarian. In November 2001, he was selected by the members of the Ugandan Parliament to serve as one of the nine Ugandan representatives to the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA).