The Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) and senior presidential advisor for Special Operations, Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, has promoted the director of the Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID), AIGP Tom Magambo, to the rank of acting lieutenant colonel.The promotion was announced by Col Chris Magezi, the acting director of Defence Public Information at the ministry of Defence and Veteran Affairs.Magambo joined the Internal Security Organisation (ISO) in 2002, where he served for 20 years, rising to the rank of chief intelligence officer and director of analysis.At ISO, he headed Regional Affairs, engaging in peace and security initiatives under the East African Community (EAC), Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) and African Union (AU). He also served in Internal Counterintelligence and Policy Analysis.His other assignments included serving as acting District Internal Security Officer (DISO) in Rukungiri, liaison officer at the ministry of Foreign Affairs and personal assistant to then ISO director general, Brig Ronnie Balya.Magambo later coordinated the Eastern Africa Fusion and Liaison Unit, which brings together Uganda, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia, Tanzania, Djibouti, Burundi and Rwanda.On January 25, 2022, President Yoweri Museveni appointed Magambo director of CID, replacing AIGP Grace Akullo, who had held the position for nearly 10 years.His appointment was unprecedented in the history of the Police Force because he had never served as a police officer. He moved directly from ISO, where he had worked as a civilian intelligence operative, despite being a UPDF private on paper.In a single move, Museveni elevated him from private to major, skipping nine ranks, and placed him in charge of one of the Police Force’s most sensitive departments. Traditionally, the CID directorate had been headed by career police officers who rose through the ranks.Magambo’s appointment marked the first time an ISO operative without a police background had been brought in to head CID, breaking a long-standing tradition and generating unease within the Uganda Police Force.In April 2022, Museveni promoted him to Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIGP), a move intended to regularise his position within the Police Force.Since taking over, Magambo has been credited with efforts to modernise CID operations, tackle organised crime and improve investigative efficiency.Among the changes introduced under his leadership are refresher training for CID personnel, mass transfers aimed at ending prolonged stays at particular stations, the revival of plain-clothes allowances for detectives and efforts to digitise crime data.He has also pushed for the establishment of a 24-hour call centre and a Crime Data Analysis Centre at Kibuli, which is currently under construction.In February 2025, Museveni renewed Magambo’s contract as CID director for another two years.The post Muhoozi promotes police’s Tom Magambo to acting lieutenant colonel appeared first on The Observer Media Ltd.