Museveni reappoints Lt Gen Gutti for another term as army court chairman

President Yoweri Museveni, who is also the commander in chief of the armed forces has extended the term for Lt Gen Andrew Gutti as the chairman of the General Court Martial in Makindye.

The announcement was made this week in a letter to the army leadership.

The Nile Post has separately learnt that Gutti and his team are set to be sworn in on Monday at a function to be held at the army court headquarters in Makindye.

The law

The UPDF Act 2005 provides that the General Court Martial shall consist of a chairman who shall not be below the rank of a Lieutenant Colonel, senior officers, junior officers, a political commissar and a non -commissioned officer and these members are appointed by the High Command for a period of one year.

Gutti

This is the sixth term that Lt Gen Andrew Gutti is serving as the chairman of the army court having been appointed in 2016 to replace Maj Gen Levi Karuhanga who had earlier that year died.

For all the years, President Museveni , who is also the commander in chief of the armed forces has been pleased to extend Gutti’s term as he continues to take charge of affairs at the army court.

He now qualifies among the longest serving army court chairmen since its inception.

Joining the army in 1986, Gutti has risen through the ranks to reach the rank of Lieutenant General that he is on currently but has also held several assignments in the UPDF.

He has served as the 3rd division commander and Chief of Operation and Training in the Uganda Peoples Defence Forces-UPDF.

In 2004, Gutti was promoted to the rank of Brigadier and appointed chief of training after the army court cleared him of charges related to creation of ghost soldiers while still serving as the commander for the third infantry division.

A year later in 2005, Gutti replaced then Brig Henry Tumukunde as an army representative in parliament and in 2008, he was promoted to Major General.

In 2009, a year after promotion to Major General, Gutti was appointed the commandant for the Senior Command and Staff College, Kimaka to replace Lt Gen Ivan Koreta whom he had deputized since 2007.

In 2012 he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General and deployed to Mogadishu as the overall African Union Mission (AMISOM) in Somalia commander taking over from Maj.Gen. Fred Mugisha.

He served in the position for one year until 2013.

Cases handled

As chairman of the army court sitting at Makindye, Gen Andrew Gutti has handled several prominent cases including the trial of former Police chief, Gen Kale Kayihura and senior police commanders accused of kidnapping and repatriation of Rwandan refugees.

Gutti also handled the trial of former Boda Boda 2010 patron , Abdalla Kitatta accused of being in unlawful possession of a fire arm as well as Robert Kyagulanyi for unlawful possession of a gun.