Former Deputy Chief of Defence Forces General Peter Elwelu has been arrested in Soroti City over alleged subversive activities and claims that he was involved in plans to destabilise Teso, according to the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF).
The army announced his arrest on November 2, 2026, marking a dramatic development in the career of an officer who once occupied one of the highest positions in Uganda’s military.
Acting Defence Public Information Director Col Chris Magezi said Elwelu had been on the run before security forces apprehended him.
Magezi also announced that security personnel had recovered 15 guns, military fatigues and two pickup trucks allegedly linked to the former general.
The UPDF said Elwelu would be charged and prosecuted in court, although the specific charges and evidence against him had not been publicly detailed in the announcement.
His arrest has brought renewed attention to a military career that included commanding Uganda’s first contingent in Somalia, leading the Land Forces and serving as Deputy Chief of Defence Forces.
However, it is his role in the 2016 Kasese palace assault that remains the most controversial chapter of his public life.
In November 2016, Elwelu was a brigadier general commanding the UPDF Second Division when troops moved against the Rwenzururu royal palace in Kasese.
The operation took place on November 26 and 27, following tensions between the government and the Rwenzururu Kingdom over security matters and the role of the kingdom’s royal guards.
Omusinga Charles Wesley Mumbere was arrested alongside scores of other people after the military stormed the palace compound. The operation left a significant death toll.
Human Rights Watch documented at least 55 deaths on November 26, including police officers, and more than 100 people killed during the following day’s palace assault.
The organisation also documented the deaths of children and called for an independent investigation into the conduct of security forces.
The International Criminal Court’s Office of the Prosecutor subsequently reported credible information that Ugandan security forces had committed multiple killings during the operation, which it described as having been conducted under Elwelu’s command.
The government maintained that the operation was necessary to deal with an armed threat posed by the royal guards, while the Rwenzururu Kingdom disputed the characterisation of its guards as a militia. Elwelu did not distance himself from the operation.
Speaking to journalists in May 2021 after taking his oath as a UPDF representative in Parliament, he defended the military’s actions and dismissed criticism of his role. “The ICC set me free; they said I have no case to answer. So what are you talking about?”
He also said: “Those were criminals, I didn’t kill anybody else, they deserved death. Uganda is peaceful because of my actions and Kasese is peaceful.”
His remarks attracted renewed criticism, particularly from people who continued to demand accountability for those killed during the operation.
Elwelu joined the National Resistance Army in 1987 and trained at Tanzania’s Monduli Military Academy before rising through the ranks.
His military service took him through operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo and northern Uganda, where he was deployed in 1999 to fight Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army.
In 2007, he commanded Uganda’s first military contingent deployed to Somalia under the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM).
He later held senior positions within the UPDF, including command of the Third Division in Moroto and the Second Division in Mbarara. Following the Kasese operation, his rise through the military hierarchy continued.
He was appointed Commander of Land Forces in January 2017, promoted to lieutenant general in February 2019 and named Deputy Chief of Defence Forces on June 24, 2021. His position, however, did not shield him from international criticism over Kasese.
On May 30, 2024, the US State Department designated Elwelu over gross violations of human rights, specifically extrajudicial killings committed by UPDF members while he commanded forces. The designation made him ineligible to enter the United States.
Another controversial episode occurred on June 23, 2022, when Elwelu ordered the entire UPDF onto Standby Class One, the military’s highest level of combat readiness.
Then-UPDF spokesperson Brig Felix Kulayigye declined to provide a substantive public explanation for the alert. “That is not for the public.”
Elwelu was replaced as Deputy Chief of Defence Forces by Lt Gen Sam Okiding in 2024 and subsequently assigned presidential advisory responsibilities relating to Teso and Karamoja. He retired from active military service in 2025.
After leaving the military, he became increasingly visible on social media through videos of himself exercising, preaching and sharing religious messages. His wife, Patricia Apolot, told New Vision that he had welcomed retirement and wanted a quiet life.
She also said he had expressed concerns about his personal security and asked President Yoweri Museveni to retain his security detail. His retirement period was also marked by public exchanges with Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba.
In December 2024, Muhoozi threatened to arrest Elwelu in posts on X, describing him as a fool and saying he would capture him.
The exchanges resurfaced in late October 2026 when Muhoozi, now Chief of Defence Forces, accused Elwelu of involvement in activities intended to destabilise Teso.
He ordered the former general to surrender and announced that security forces had recovered weapons and ammunition from one of his homes. Muhoozi also announced the arrest of more than 20 former soldiers who had served under Elwelu.
Apolot disputed the allegations against her husband, telling New Vision that he had travelled to Kampala to spend time in prayer and had no intention of organising a rebellion. She also reported security raids at their home and restrictions on the family’s movements.
The UPDF has said Elwelu will face prosecution, but the specific charges, evidence against him and circumstances of his arrest have not been publicly established in the information available. He has also not been reported as having entered a plea or appeared in court.
The reported recovery of weapons and military equipment remains part of the allegations announced by the army, rather than proof of Elwelu’s guilt.
His arrest marks a striking turn for a man who rose from the National Resistance Army to become one of Uganda’s most senior military commanders.
Yet the Peter Elwelu arrest also brings back questions surrounding the Kasese palace assault, the deaths documented by human rights organisations and the accountability demands that followed.
As he faces the prospect of prosecution over the latest allegations, his military legacy remains closely tied to an operation whose consequences continue to shape how his career is remembered.
