Brig. Bob Ogiki: The new sheriff in town as the Chief of Staff for the UPDF Land Forces
A few years ago, during a conversation with a close acquaintance, the then Col Bob Paciesky Ogiki confessed to them, one of his emotional moments as a soldier.
He opened up that he always becomes emotional seeing soldiers waving goodbyes to their loved ones while boarding the plane to Somalia for the AMISOM job because he is never sure of bringing them back home alive.
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To Ogiki’s friend, it was not only about accomplishing the job but ensuring all the troops return home the way they left.
Fast forward, on June,24, 2021, President Yoweri Museveni, who is also the commander in chief of the armed forces appointed Brig Bob Ogiki as the new Chief of Staff Land Forces, to replace Maj Gen Leopold Kyanda who had served in the position for eight years.
For the Chief of Staff Land Forces in the UPDF is therefore the principal staff officer who reports directly to the Commander Land Forces and is also responsible for routine matters in management but also works with the Joint Chief of Staff on logistics and finance.
The Chief of Staff Land Forces is also accountable to the commander Land Forces on all matters pertaining to the day-to-day running of affairs of the Land Forces and manages both human and material affairs of the land forces.
The Nile Post’s Kenneth Kazibwe brings you the profile of the man who is now tasked with running the day-to-day affairs of the Land Forces, the biggest of the five services of the UPDF.
Joining the army in 1995, Bob Ogiki completed the basic military training course from the School of Infantry in Jinja, the same year, before graduating as the best student in his class for his Officer Cadet Course in Monduli, Tanzania, in 1997.
Ogiki never looked back as he completed several courses including an Officers’ Police Education course at the school of Political Education at the Gaddafi Cantonment in Jinja, International Officers’ Basic Intelligence Course at the Fort Huachuca in Arizona, USA in 2005 and the Company Commanders’ Course in Jinja in 2006 where he again topped the class.
Continues to excel
Ogiki has throughout the years continued to excel in his studies and in 2007, he again topped his class while graduating in the Junior Staff Course in Jinja whereas he graduated as the best international cohort as he completed his Senior Command and Staff Course at Jaji in Nigeria in 2009.
Brig Bob Ogiki(L) shares a light moment with the Commander Land Forces, Lt Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba.
Ogiki also completed a Staff Officers’ Course at the National Defence College in the Netherlands in 2011 and two years later in 2013, an Advanced Command and Staff Course at the UK Defence Academy, Shrivenham and later a Post Graduate Diploma in Strategic Management and Leadership from the Chartered Management Institute, UK in 2013.
Later, he attained a Master of Arts Degree in Defence and Security Studies, King College London, UK.
Appointments
Brig Bob Ogiki served as a Platoon commander immediately after finishing his Cadet Officer Course in Tanzania in 1997 and between 1998 and 2001, he served as a Battalion Intelligence Officer until he was appointed the Aide De Camp to the Chief of Military Intelligence, a position her serve in for one year.
Between 2002 and 2003, Ogiki was seconded to the Internal Security Organisation(ISO) where he served as the District Internal Security Officer(DISO) for Kitgum and Kiboga districts whereas he later served as the Regional Internal Security Officer for Kampala Extra and later the Commandant for the Institute of Security and Intelligence Studies.
Ogiki was in 2003 elevated to the position of a Brigade Intelligence Officer until 2004 and a year later in 2005, he became a Division Intelligence Officer, a position he served in until 2009 when he was appointed as the Overall Intelligence coordinator for North Eastern Uganda.
Brig Bob Ogiki in a conversation with the Deputy CDF, Lt Gen Peter Elwelu.
Between 2010 and 2011, he was the directing staff at the Senior Command and Staff College in Jinja and in 2012, he was appointed the Military Assistant to Gen Aronda Nyakairima(RIP), the then Chief of Defence Forces in the UPDF.
Ogiki continued to excel and in 2013, he was appointed the Director of Intelligence in the UPDF but this was short-lived after he was appointed as the Operations Officer for Operation Kalongero.
Operation Kalongero was Uganda’s efforts to stabilise the volatile situation in South Sudan after war broke out in 2013, prompting the UPDF to deploy troops in the youngest nation in Africa.
The operation was successful as UPDF’s deployment enabled the evacuation of thousands of Ugandans and other foreigners who had been trapped in the conflict whereas the Ugandans army was also able to secured Juba airport and other strategic installations in South Sudan.
Ogiki is among those to be credited for this success since he was the operations officer for the UPDF in the operation.
In 2014, Ogiki was a director in charge of combat operations and the same year he was appointed as the Colonel in charge of coordination at the Senior Command and Staff College in Jinja before he was sent to Somalia between 2015 and 2016 as the Battle Group Commander for the UPDF.
After returning from Somalia, Ogiki was deployed as the Chief of Staff at the Uganda Rapid Deployment Capability Centre in Jinja and in 2018, he returned to the Senior Command and Staff College Kimaka as the Colonel in charge of Coordination, a position he served in until he elevated to the Deputy Commander of the Senior Command and Staff College Kimaka under the command of Lt Gen Andrew Gutti.
In January this year, Brig Bob Ogiki was appointed the military Chief of Staff at the AMISOM force headquarters in Somalia, a position he served in until last month’s appointment as the new Chief of Staff Land Forces in the UPDF.
