UPDF returns from Somalia; Semujju won’t eat his chicken

What the report says

The Independent Uganda published a commentary by Obed K. Katureebe on Uganda’s long military deployment in Somalia and the return of the first UPDF contingent home on 2 November 2026. The piece traces the mission back to President Yoweri Museveni’s 2007 decision to send Ugandan forces into Somalia after the formation of Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government and amid the rise of Al-Shabaab and wider state collapse.

The article argues that many critics doubted the deployment, including opposition figure and journalist Semujju Nganda, who on a CBS radio programme reportedly dismissed the mission and made a controversial remark about counting dead soldiers. According to the commentary, that prediction drew public criticism, while Museveni continued with the deployment in the name of pan-African solidarity and regional stability.

Katureebe says the UPDF went on to play a major role in AMISOM/ATMIS operations, helping drive Al-Shabaab out of Mogadishu and later supporting the recapture of other towns, including Buula Burde and Bariire, alongside operations in Lower Shabelle. The article presents the return of troops as a moment of national pride and says the mission helped create conditions for rebuilding in Somalia.

The commentary also notes the cost of the deployment, referring to Ugandan casualties during the mission, including the 2023 Bulo Marer attack. More broadly, the piece places Uganda’s Somalia role in the context of wider international efforts to stabilise the country, while emphasizing that Uganda’s forces were among the earliest and most committed contributors.