| Abel Kandiho | |
| Birth Place: | Gomba, Uganda |
| Occupation: | Military officer |
| Nationality: | Ugandan |
| Citizenship: | Uganda |
| Known For: | Military Matters |
| Honorific Prefix: | Major General |
| Joint Chief of Staff in the Uganda Police Force | |
Major General Abel Kandiho, is a Ugandan military officer.He was appointed Senior Presidential Advisor on Friday 17th May,2024.He had previously served as the Joint Chief of Staff in the Uganda Police Force, effective 9 February 2022.[1]
From 25 January 2022 until 8 February 2022, he was assigned to duty in South Sudan, as a Special Envoy.[2] However, this assignment was reversed and instead he was appointed Chief of Joint Staff of Uganda Police Force.[3]
He previously served as the Chief of Military Intelligence in the Uganda People's Defence Force (UPDF).[4]
It has been reported in the past that Kandiho blames the spate of killings in Ugandan urban areas in the period between 2015 and 2018[5] to a network of thugs linked to General Kale Kayihura, the former Inspector General of Police. Kandiho "privately accused the former police chief of waging a campaign aimed at depicting the inner towns as ungovernable".[6] Kandiho, in his capacity as the Head of CMI, was one of the people who personally interrogated Kale Kayihura, following his arrest in 2018.[7]
In November 2017, at the rank of colonel and as Commander of the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence, he was promoted to the rank of brigadier.[8] In December 2019, at the rank of Brigadier, Kandiho met with Lieutenant General Jeremiah Nyembe, the South African Military Intelligence chief, for the purpose of sharing information.[9]
Previously, before May 2014, at the rank of lieutenant colonel, he served as the commander of Makindye Military Barracks; the headquarters of the UPDF Military Police. On 30 May 2014, he was replaced in that position by Colonel Emmanuel Kanyesigye. Kandiho stayed on as Deputy Commander.[10]
In 2009, at the rank of major, Kandiho was a military officer at CMI.[11] In 2019, The Independent (Uganda) newspaper reported that Kandiho worked at the Uganda High Commission in Kigali, Rwanda, in the early 2000s, where he had disagreements with Rwandan security forces.[12]
In December 2021, Abel Kandiho, is targeted by United States sanctions the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced. Abel Kandiho's assets in the United States are now frozen. At issue: his alleged involvement in cases of human rights violations.[13] [14]
In January 2022, he was replaced as the Head of Military Intelligence in the UPDF by Major General James Birungi. Kandiho was reassigned special duties in South Sudan.[2]