Police have Saturday morning confirmed the ‘sudden’ death of Major Gen. Paul Lokech – a decorated soldier who journey started in the early 1990s.

Paul Lokech, a soft spoken fallen police chief was an accomplished soldier whose urban warfare abilities in the Somali land and DRC saw him attract the attention of the appointing authority.

Lokech walked a handful of soldiers from the unknowns of DRC to Ugandan town of Kasese after it had emerged they had no means to return home. President Yoweri Museveni who recently assigned him the role of the Deputy Inspector General of Police, was there in person.

The Acholi boy was at it again when he was sent to the volatile Somaliland to tame the city that had exploded and left many of its inhabitants fleeing for their lives and safety.

Lokech who was assigned this duty twice and excelled on both occasions, prompting those in security to recall him amidst the looming General elections in the country with Kampala and other cities growing chaotic.

The gigantic and quiet police chief oversaw an election many thought would turn out rowdy and most recently the professional nature in which he went about the shooting of Gen. Katumba Wamala, won him plaudits.

Below we trace for the journey of a brave and courageous soldier whose military journey ended Saturday morning at his home in Kampala.

Military Career

Maj. Gen Paul Lokech has served Uganda People’s Defense Forces (UPDF), in various leadership capacities.

Lokech made two tours, as the Commander of the Uganda contingent to Somalia, part of the AMISOM peacekeeping force. The first tour was between 2011 and 2012. 

His second Somalia rotation was from 2017 until 2018. 

In his first tour, Lokech commanded Battle Groups Eight and Nine, responsible for ejecting Al- Shabaab militants from Mogadishu in 2011.

Before his second tour in Somalia, he was the Commanding Officer of the Second UPDF Division, based at Makenke Barracks, in Mbarara, in the Western Region of Uganda. 

Lokech served as the Military Attache’ at Uganda’s Embassy to Russia, based in Moscow.

He has also served as part of Uganda’s peace-keeping forces in South Sudan. He was deployed in November 2019. Gen Lokech was sent to South Sudan to monitor on behalf of the guarantors, screening, demobilization and integration of the armed forces of South Sudan.  

Lokech was part of Operation Safe Haven (OSH), a UPDF operation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo intended to neutralize the rebel Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), commanded by now incarcerated Jamil Mukulu based by then in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Chief of staff of UPDF

Maj. Gen Lokech served as Chief of Staff of the UPDF Air Force, for five months. That’s from 11 July 2019, until 11 December 2019. Before that, Lokech was the Commandant of Uganda Rapid Development Capability Centre (URDCC), in Jinja, the eastern part of Uganda from December 2018 until July 2019.

One of Lokech’s most recent prominent assignments was heading Ugandans troops to significantly weaken the Somalia based Al-Shabab terror group in 2011. 

Lokech became Major General in February 2019, when President Yoweri Museveni promoted over 2,000 men and women to various ranks in the UPDF. 

As of that exercise, Paul Lokech was promoted from Brigadier to Major General. His name was inadvertently left off the original list, and the Uganda military apologized for that omission.

Military Walk

Maj. Gen Paul Lokech joined the UPDF in the mid-1990s. As a young boy Lokech actively participated in the battles in DR. Congo in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Maj. Gen Lokech joined the then National Resistance Army (NRA), which was later renamed Uganda People’s Defense Forces (UPDF) on 1st February 1987.

700Km walk back home

After his training, he was quickly called to battle. As a major, he commanded the 65th UPDF Battalion in Kisangani during the DR. Congo war in 2001.

After the fighting in DR. Congo, UPDF units had to withdraw back home. Nonetheless, logistics could not allow for a quick withdraw. The Ugandan border was a whole 700km away and the only option available for the soldiers was to walk the distance through extremely rough terrain or stay forever in DR. Congo.

Some soldiers were scared, but Lokech decided to walk part of the group back to Uganda. The precarious journey took three months and triumphantly, the unit that included several T-55 battle tanks was received by President Yoweri Museveni in Kasese. 

The Pincher

In June 2011, while on assignment in Somalia, Lokech launched his first major offensive, capturing areas that were far behind Bakara market and Mogadishu stadium, which was the main operations base of the militants. He later called this manoeuvre ‘the pincher’.

The battle was tough. “The militants defended every inch, every corner, every tunnel, every building and every stretch of the territory they controlled in Mogadishu,” Lokech said.

After a while, the militants withdrew from Bakara, and again Lokech launched another operation, which he dubbed Operation Free Mogadishu and the militants ran away from their positions, after incurring heavy casualties.

Lokech served as AMISOM contingent commander, from 2001 until 2012. He was again in Somalia between 2017 and 2018 as contingent commander. 

He previously served at the Uganda Mission in Russia and a division commander before his assignment in Somalia. 

Air force chief of staff

Maj Gen Lokech comes into Uganda Police force with a wealth of experience in leadership, administration and command. Lokech is one of the commanders credited for breaking the back of Al- Shabaab militants in Somalia when he was commander of UPDF contingent between 2011 and 2012.

Because of his relentless confrontation with Al Shabaab insurgents and capturing key historical places like the Red Mosque in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu, the then Brigadier Lokech was nicknamed the ‘Lion of Mogadishu.

President Museveni then redeployed Lokech in 2017 – 2018 to Somalia still as UPDF contingent commander and when Lokech returned to Uganda, he was promoted by President Museveni to the rank of Maj. General. 

He immediately posted him to Jinja to command the Uganda Rapid Deployment Capability Centre.

Additional information from flashugnews.com