Madar (Kampala) - Ugandan authorities on Monday, November 2, 2026, arrested General Peter Elwelu, a former deputy chief of defence forces, over allegations of planning to destabilise parts of the country, according to the military, AP and Africanews reported.
Elwelu served as deputy chief of defence forces between 2021 and 2024. Military spokesperson Col. Chris Magezi said he had been "on the run over involvement in subversive activities and plans to destabilize" a remote part of eastern Uganda where he was born and raised. "The security forces recently recovered 15 guns in his possession, military fatigues, and two pickup trucks," he said.
Elwelu could not be reached for comment and was being held by military authorities at an unknown location, according to the report, while the government has yet to substantiate the allegations against him. His wife told local media that he was innocent. According to the BBC, Magezi said Elwelu was arrested on Monday evening and would be charged in court; the broadcaster noted that the US sanctioned him in May 2024 over alleged human rights abuses and that he retired from the military in August 2025.
Before the arrest, army chief Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba had accused Elwelu of engaging in treacherous activities after his retirement last year and said he had ordered him captured alive. Last week, Kainerugaba announced he had stripped Elwelu of his lieutenant general rank and revealed on X the arrest of 20 former soldiers linked to him.
Elwelu, a former commander of the land forces, once disagreed with Kainerugaba over military operations, prompting an urgent meeting mediated by President Yoweri Museveni. Kainerugaba, Museveni's son and seen as his likely successor, launched a bid for the 2031 presidential election months after his father was sworn in in May for a seventh consecutive term.
