LT GEN PETER ELWELU
Peter Elwelu is a Lieutenant General in the Ugandan military, formally known as the Uganda People’s Defence Force (UPDF). He currently holds the position of Deputy Chief of the Defense Forces of the UPDF, which he was appointed to on 24 June 2021. Prior to this, he served as the commander of land forces from 9 January 2017, which is the fourth-highest position in the UPDF hierarchy. From June 2013 until January 2017, he was the commander of the UPDF 2nd division, which is based in Mbarara, the largest town in Uganda’s Western Region.
Military
Peter Elwelu reportedly joined the Ugandan military in 1987 after attending the Tanzania Military Academy in Monduli. He was then posted to the military installation at Kabamba and later transferred to the Cadet Officer School at the Gaddafi military barracks in Jinja in 1995.
Elwelu served as a commander within the UPDF during the invasion of Zaire and the overthrow of Mobutu Sese Seko, alongside the Rwandan military. He was later deployed to the Northern Region in 1999 to fight Joseph Kony and his guerilla Lord’s Resistance Army. During this tour, he survived being shot in the back.
In 2007, Elwelu commanded the first Uganda military contingent when the country sent troops to Somalia under the African Union Mission to Somalia. He received commendation from the UPDF chief of defence forces, General Katumba Wamala, for his role on that tour.
In June 2013, Elwelu was appointed commander of the 2nd UPDF Division based at Mbarara, having previously served as the commander of the UPDF 3rd Division based at Moroto.
Elwelu made his first visit to UPDF troops in Somalia under AMISOM on Wednesday 22 March 2017 in his capacity as the UPDF Land forces commander. According to the spokesman of the Ugandan contingent in Somalia, the general’s visit was to “check on the operational tempo, boost the morale of the troops, and also update the troops on the situation in Uganda.”
In February 2019, over 2,000 men and women in the UPDF received promotions, including Elwelu, who was promoted from the rank of Major General to that of Lieutenant General.