Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has appointed former Chief of Military Intelligence, Maj Gen Abel Kandiho, as the new Chief of Joint Staff of Uganda Police Force, barely weeks after he had posted him to South Sudan as Head of Peace Monitoring Mechanism.

The Uganda People’s Defence Force (UPDF) tweeted on Tuesday, February 8, that Museveni had appointed Kandiho as Chief of Joint Staff of Uganda Police Force replacing Maj Gen Jack Bakasumba who was appointed as his replacement for the South Sudan post.

The development came four days after Kandiho, on February 4, handed over the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI) office to Maj Gen James Birungi.

Kandiho was removed from CMI office last month after a visit to Rwanda by Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the UPDF Land Forces commander.

Museveni on January 25 replaced Kandiho as the director of the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI), which has for the past few years been accused of torturing and killing Rwandans before being dumped at borders without due process.

Kandiho’s replacement came few days after  Lt Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, a Senior Presidential Adviser on Special Operations and Commander of Land Forces of the Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) was in Kigali, in an effort to repair ties between Rwanda and Uganda. 

To observers, Muhoozi took a good step but Kigali waits to see more convincing practical steps taken by Kampala where outstanding issues that must be believably dealt with include the arrest and harassment of Rwandans in Uganda, and activities of terrorist groups operating in Uganda intent on destabilizing Rwanda.

The U.S. Treasury Department last December imposed financial sanctions on Kandiho over alleged human rights abuses committed under his watch. For several years now, many Rwandans have described how they were locked up in the CMI’s secret detention facilities or "safe houses” and tortured.