Former presidential candidate Maj Gen Benon Buta Biraaro, 61, is dead. Biraaro breathed his last today at Kampala hospital this afternoon.
Biraaro was admitted at Kampala hospital on February 6, 2020, for treatment of advanced colon cancer, a disease he has battled for several years. He was pronounced dead at around 12:30 pm today.
Biraaro graduated from Makerere University in 1982 with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and later joined the National Resistance Army (NRA) bush war. He unsuccessfully contested for the presidency of Uganda on behalf of the Farmers Party.
He was born on March 1, 1958 in Isingiro District. He also attended Cranfield University in the United Kingdom, graduating with a Masters in Global Strategic Studies.
He previously served as the commandant of the Uganda senior command and staff college in Kimaka, Jinja, as the deputy commandant of the National Leadership Institute, Kyankwanzi, and as the commander of the military police.
During his presidential campaigns, Gen Biraro accused Mr Museveni and his NRM party of failure to address poverty, adding that his presidency would treat it with urgency.
Responding to questions about his ability to lead the country, Gen Biraro pointed at what he described as a clean track record that he has left in all the public offices he has held since 1986.
He had also promised to reduce on the size of Parliament, a process which he said would begin with the scrapping of army MPs saying they are supposed to be neutral.
He deputised Mr Museveni’s Principle Private Secretary in 1986 before becoming the Kitgum District Special Administrator from 1986 to 1987. He also served as the Deputy Commandant Kyankwanzi Political School. He was also the Commanding Officer 97 Battalion in Eastern Uganda that ended the insurgency in Samia, Teso.
He was also the commander Military Police as well as the military representative in the IGG’s office
Gen Biraaro was the director of training that led the Uganda contingent to DRC in 1998.
He later became the commander of the Infantry Division in western Uganda. He was also assistant Chief of Staff, UPDF
He founded and commanded for two in-takes at army college in Kimaka.
