About The College

The Senior Command and Staff College (SCSC) is Uganda’s premiere Military training institution which conducts Operational Level training for mid-level military officers men and women of the Uganda Peoples’ Defence Force (UPDF). The training is intended to impart to the officers the necessary skills in military science as well as Peace Support Operations. It is also aimed at equipping the officers with the level of training that enhances their analytical skills in order to make them relevant in a modern military environment.

Mission

The mission of SCSC is to develop professional abilities, knowledge, skills and understanding of selected officers by enhancing their leadership, analytical and communication skills to enable them execute higher responsibilities both in command and staff functions.

Vision

The vision of the SCSC is to become an internationally recognized Command and Staff College with full fledged Centers for Strategic Studies and Peace Support Operations.

Leadership

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Maj Gen George Igumba

Commandant SCSC

College History

The idea of the Senior Command and Staff College was mooted by H.E the president and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces much earlier but made public in the year 2000. A number of sites were lined up and visited but after a long search for the most suitable location, the present site of Kimaka was chosen.
The pioneer course of 31 participants commenced on 30th August 2004. This course is particularly notable because it included the top-most generals of the UPDF, namely Gen Tumwine, Gen Caleb Akandwanaho, and Gen David Tinyefuza. Todate, the college has run four courses with a total of 149 graduands. The fourth intake currently running comprises of students from Kenya, Tanzania, Southern Sudan and Uganda and is due to graduate on the 27th November 2008

College Organisation

The College is organized into a headquarter (Hq) with three wings namely the Coordinating Wing, the Training Wing and the Administration Wing. The College Hq is composed of the Commandant (Comdt) and the Deputy Commandant who is also the Chief Instructor. The College operates under the direction of the College Control Board whose members are HE the President and Commander in Chief as the chairman, Minister of Defence, Chief of the Defence Forces, Permanent Secretary, Comdt, Deputy Comdt as secretary to the Board and three academicians as co-opted members.

Course Modules

The modules are grouped into 4 terms running for 46 weeks covering 1610 periods of 45 minutes each. The subjects covered are:

  • Air operations
  • African Traditional Institutions
  • Communication
  • Intelligence
  • Internal security and counter insurgency operations
  • Joint warfare operations
  • Land operations
  • Leadership, Command and Management
  • Logistics
  • Maritime operations
  • Movement
  • National and International Affairs
  • Operational requirements
  • Organization
  • Peace Support Operations
  • Service Writing
  • Special operations
  • Staff Duties
  • Strategy and Policy
  • Training

Course Objectives

Consistent with the College mission the course objectives are designed to achieve:

A high military education that provides the individual with an understanding of the importance of critical and independent thought.

A greater understanding of the national, regional and international political, military and socio-economic problems through research and analysis of contemporary world affairs.

An understanding of the elements of Policy, Strategy, National interests and objectives.

In pursuit of the course objectives, the College has developed and maintains close relationship with local and international academic institutions for training assistance and currency of instructional materials.

Location

The Senior Command and Staff College is located in Kimaka village 3 km on the Jinja – Bujagali road astride the River Nile on the outskirts of Jinja town, 80 km east of Kampala city, in Eastern Uganda. The present site of the college was formerly a residential quarters for the Italian construction company for the construction of the 2nd Hydro electric Dam, but has since been modified to suit the college needs.

Senior Command and Staff College (SCSC) Kimaka fraternity warmly welcomes you again to SCSC web page. We are deeply honoured and grateful to be followed by a good number of you as you access information about our College. To all of you who have been trying to get updates about us but in vain, we sincerely apologize for the inconvenience it might have caused you. Thank God that we are now back with a bang and we promise to serve you even better as we shall be regularly updating this page with all the necessary information.

This page was last updated in 2008 during the conduct of Course No. 04 of the Academic Year 2008/2009 however, this does not in any way mean that the College had stopped conducting business. We thank God who has been nice to us for the enabling environment as well as the Strategic leadership, for their unwavering support; we cannot thank them enough. To you our followers we are back and well; we shall give you updates on what you might have missed out as the old adage goes, “a story is never old if one did not miss out on it”. For obvious and very good reasons, we might not be able to discuss all the activities that the College conducted since 2008 but we will avail you of adequate highlights which will help you appreciate our journey with its attendant shortfalls. The journey is not only too long but difficult too, though worth undertaking.

  • The Vision, Mission, and our cherished values have not changed over the years and in line with our mission, we still provide quality education and training to selected UPDF and Allied Senior Officers to equip them with Professional knowledge and skills; to make them adaptive, proficient, effective and efficient in multi-dimensional operations so as to avert conflict in the fast-changing operational environment and if prevention fails, to win against our peer and near-peer threats through Military means.
  • The enrollment on the Course has since steadily increased to include the East African Community (EAC) member States (save for Democratic Republic of the Congo for now), plus the Republic of South Africa on a bilateral arrangement. The Republic of Malawi is the latest entrant onto the course with a maiden Student on the current Course No. 19/23-24.
  • It should be noted that in the year of our Lord 2016, the College became affiliated with Makerere University of Uganda and since then, the qualifying student officers have been admitted to Masters and Diploma programmes (Master of Defence and Security Studies (MDSS) and Diploma in Strategy and Warfare (DISW) this comes as an addition to the qualification of “Passed Staff College” Uganda, after successful fulfilment of the requirements for the training programme. So far 66 Students have attained the MDSS and 14 Students have attained the DISW.
  • Since its inauguration in 2004, the College has uninterruptedly conducted 18 Courses with the ongoing one being the 19th Against this historic fact, the College prides itself in a total alumni of over 726 graduates from EAC member States as well as South Africa, a good number of whom have risen and taken up higher Command, Leadership and Management responsibilities. Key among them is Gen Jacob John Mkunda, the current Chief of Defence Forces Tanzania People’s Defence Forces, whom the College has had the privilege to host on 23 May 23 to deliver a lecture of opportunity to Course No. 18 /22-23. The intimated CDF was the College’s first inductee to the Wall of Fame.
  • In August 22, the longest serving College Comdt, Lt Gen (rtd) Andrew Gutti completed his tour of duty and Military service and honourably retired from service on 30 Jul 2022. He was since been replaced by Maj Gen George Igumba, a seasoned trainer and administrator which earned him the title “Headmaster” as he is usually called by his admirers most especially the College fraternity.
  • Maj Gen Igumba is not new in training circles and indeed at the SCSC Kimaka having served at the College as Col in-charge of Co-ordination and twice as the Deputy Commandant who doubles as the Chief Instructor. He took over the mantle of running the College when Course No. 18/22-23 was only four weeks old. With a team of dedicated, committed and hardworking Directing Staff, Academia and Support Staff, they steered the Course to its successful end on Thu 29 June 23.
  • Currently, the College is running Course No. 19/23-24 which was officially opened on 7 Aug 23. This time round the College has enrolled 50 Students which is the highest number of Student Officers since its inception.