Gen Kainerugaba Attends Son Ruhamya’s Graduation From Sandhurst

Officer Cadet Ruhamya Kainerugaba, son of Uganda’s Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, officially graduated from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst on Friday, completing the academy’s prestigious Officer Commissioning Course. The CDF was present to witness the ceremony.

Ahead of the parade, Gen. Kainerugaba was received by Major General Nick Cowley OBE, the Academy Commandant, who decorated him with a Sandhurst Alumni medal. The honor was particularly notable, as the tradition of issuing such badges was introduced after the General’s own time at the academy.

At the ceremony, the Sovereign’s Parade, a formal ceremony marking the passing out and commissioning of officer cadets, was held at the academy’s historic campus in Surrey. Ruhamya was commissioned alongside fellow Ugandan Officer Cadet Andrew Bakira, joining other international and British cadets who marched past Old College, the iconic main building, in a ceremony attended by family members, dignitaries, and military officials.

Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba himself attended Sandhurst for the same course decades prior, graduating in 2000. Leading up to the parade, the CDF shared updates on his son’s progress, posting side-by-side photographs of himself during his own officer training alongside images of Ruhamya, reflecting on “father and son going through the same hardships, separated by 27 years.”

The Sandhurst commissioning course runs for 44 weeks and is recognized as one of the world’s most demanding military leadership programs. Cadets undergo intensive instruction in infantry tactics, weapons systems, fieldcraft, operational planning, ethics, and high-pressure command. Upon completion, newly commissioned officers return to their respective national forces, in this case, the Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces (UPDF), where they are deployed accordingly.

Addressing the newly commissioned officers at the parade, General Sir Roly Walker, the Chief of the General Staff, warned about the evolving military environment. “We had every confidence that it was a world in which we dominated militarily,” he reflected, “and for reasons that are obvious to us all now, that world is fading fast.” The spectre of general war, he warned, is not, with little assurance of perpetual military dominance.

Yet this should not be a cause for despair, he insisted, as collective defence becomes a national effort. “There is an absolute clarity to your purpose, which is to be ready to fight and win your nation’s battles.”

He underscored their responsibility as young military leaders. “Our nations will need their soldiers. Those soldiers will need to be led… They deserve the best leaders.” He reminded them their first duty is to earn the trust of their soldiers.

“That is the simplicity of the motto of this place: Serve to Lead. And we ask nothing more from you.”

General Sir Walker, however, expressed confidence in the new officers and declared that the future is in good hands.