Muhoozi promotes CID Director Magambo to Acting Lt Col

What the report says

Kampala, Uganda — Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, who serves as Chief of Defence Forces and Senior Presidential Advisor for Special Operations, has promoted Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID) chief AIGP Maj Tom Magambo to the rank of Acting Lieutenant Colonel, according to reporting by The Independent Uganda based on a Uganda Radio Network item. The announcement was made by Col Chris Magezi, the Acting Director of Defence Public Information at the Ministry of Defence and Veteran Affairs.

The report outlines Magambo’s long background in intelligence and security work. It says he joined the Internal Security Organisation in 2002, spent about two decades there, and held roles in regional affairs, counterintelligence, policy analysis, and liaison work. It also notes that he later moved into police leadership, becoming CID director in January 2022 after President Yoweri Museveni appointed him to replace Grace Akullo.

The article highlights that Magambo’s move into the police was unusual because he had not served as a career police officer before taking over CID. It says he was later elevated to AIGP to regularize his position, and that his tenure has been associated with efforts to modernize CID operations, improve training, and expand digitization of crime data.

The Independent Uganda also reports that Museveni renewed Magambo’s contract as CID director in February 2025. The UPDF congratulated him on the latest promotion. More broadly, the case reflects how senior security appointments in Uganda can cross institutional lines between intelligence, the military, and police structures.