Profile: Brig Gen Charity Bainababo Becomes First Woman to Command SFC 

Charity Bainababo this week became the first woman to command the Special Forces Command (SFC).

President Museveni on Tuesday elevated Bainababo from the rank of Colonel to Brigadier General and appointed her Deputy Commander of SFC.

She replaced Brig David Mugisha who has been transferred to 3rd Division as the second-in-command.

She now deputizes Brigadier Felix Busizoori who was appointed as the acting Commander of SFC.

This followed the end of the tour of duty commander Brigadier Peter Chandia who was sent to the Uganda National Defence College.

SFC is a specialized component of the Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces (UPDF), tasked with carrying out special missions in support of national military objectives.

The present Special Forces Command (SFC) metamorphosed out of the High Command Unit (HCU) established in May 1981, at Kyererezi, Kapeeka (in the present-day Nakaseeke District).

When the National Resistance Army (NRA) took charge of Uganda in 1986, the HCU was renamed the Presidential Protection Unit (PPU). It expanded into Presidential Guard Brigade (PGB) during counter-insurgency operations in northern and western Uganda on the express orders of the President.

The PGB was renamed the Special Forces Group (SFG) in 2010 and two years later, it became the Special Forces Command (SFC).

The SFC in conducting operations coordinates closely with the Land Forces, Air Forces and Reserve Forces of Uganda.

The SFC is headquartered in Entebbe, Wakiso District, with various bases and training facilities in different parts of the country.

SFC units working alongside the conventional UPDF have been active in different regional missions, like in South-Sudan and the Peace Support Operation in Somalia (AMISOM).

Career

Charity Bainababo is a Ugandan military officer and legislator.

She represents UPDF in the parliament of Uganda and doubles as the Dean of army MPs.

Bainababo was once the ADC (Aide-de-camp) and head of security of Uganda’s first lady and minister of Education Janet Kataha Museveni.

Last year, Bainababo was promoted to the rank of Colonel.

She was then serving as the Police Presidential Guard (PPG) commander, its first Commander.

PPG is a unit under Special Forces Command which protects the First Lady and other very important persons.

Bainababo was recently moved to command Special Forces Group 1 (SFG 1), a Brigade she will continue to supervise.

Military Training

Bainababo joined the armed forces in 1998 after undergoing basic training at Kabamba training school in Mubende district.

She attended cadet training from 1999-2000.

She attended the company commander course in 2008.

She later attended the Senior Command and Staff College Kimaka from 2016-2017.

Formal Education

Bainababo went to Kako Primary School, St Charles Lwanga Kalungu Girls for O’level and Progressive Secondary School for A’level.

She then joined Nkumba University from where she graduated with a Bachelors’ degree in marketing.

She did a Post Graduate Diploma in Information Systems Management at Uganda Management Institute (UMI).

In 2019, she went ahead and did a Masters Degree in Information Systems Management at the same institute.

She later did a Masters Degree in Defence and Strategic Studies at Makerere University. She graduated in May 2021.