{{Short description|Ugandan general}} {{Use British English|date=August 2022}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2022}} {{Infobox person | name = Robert Freeman Mugabe | image = | image_size = | caption = | birth_date = {{circa|{{Birth year and age|1965}}}} | birth_place = Uganda | death_date = | death_place = | alma_mater = Uganda Military Academy | occupation = Military officer | years_active = 1985–present | citizenship = Uganda | networth = | honorific_prefix = Brigadier General | title = Commander of Ground-based Air Defence. }}
Brigadier General '''Robert Freeman Mugabe''' is a Ugandan military officer in the Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF). Effective 12 July 2022, he was the chairman of the UPDF General Court Martial, the highest court of military justice in the country to 26th September 2025. He cuurently serves as the Commander of Ground-based Air Defence at UPDF Air forces. Before that, he served as the adjutant general of Bombo Military Barracks, the headquarters of the UPDF Land Forces, located in Bombo, Uganda.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/news/national/brig-gen-mugabe-replaces-lt-gen-gutti-as-court-martial-chairman-3878662 | title=Brig Gen Mugabe replaces Lt Gen Gutti as Court Martial chairman |work=Daily Monitor |date=13 July 2022 | author=Daily Monitor |access-date=6 August 2022 | location=Kampala, Uganda |format=Source: Uganda Radio Network}}</ref>
==Background== Mugabe is reported to have joined the National Resistance Army (NRA) in 1985. NRA transformed into what is the Uganda People's Defense Force today. He underwent officer cadet training at what was the Cadet Officer School, in Jinja under Tanzanian military instructors. Today, the Cadet Officer School is part of the Uganda Military Academy, in Kabamba, Uganda. He graduated in 1989 as a second lieutenant.<ref name="2R">{{cite web| work=Bukedde.co.ug |date=1 August 2022 | url=https://www.bukedde.co.ug/entertainment/139856/who-is-the-new-court-martial-boss-mugabe |title=Who is the new Court Martial boss, Mugabe? |author=Michael Odeng and Douglas Mubiru | access-date=6 August 2022 |location=Kampala, Uganda}}</ref>
==Military career== Over the course of the past 30 years,{{when|date=April 2025}} Mugabe has served in several leadership positions in the UPDF and UPDF Air Force including as Air Defence Regiment Commander, Division Training Operations Officer and Division Administrative Officer. He also served as a member of the UPDF contingent to Somalia, as part of the AMISOM mission.<ref name="2R"/>
He was promoted from colonel to brigadier in April 2021 and has served as the adjutant general at the Bombo barracks since 2020. In 2022, he took over as chairman of the UPDF General Court Martial, from Lieutenant General Andrew Gutti, whose term expired in June 2022.<ref name="3R">{{cite web| url=https://www.independent.co.ug/brig-gen-freeman-mugabe-appointed-new-court-martial-boss/ |title=Brig Gen Freeman Mugabe appointed new Court Martial boss |work=The Independent (Uganda) |date=14 July 2022 |author=The Independent Uganda |access-date=6 August 2022 | location=Kampala, Uganda |format=The Independent Uganda Quoting Uganda Radio Network}}</ref> Gutti retired from the UPDF on 1 September 2022.<ref name="4R">{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.ug/museveni-retires-48-army-generals/ |title=Museveni retires 48 army Generals |work=The Independent (Uganda) |date=1 September 2022 |author=The Independent |access-date=16 October 2022 | location=Kampala, Uganda}}</ref>
Mugabe took over his new appointment on 1 August 2022, in the presence of General Wilson Mbasu Mbadi, the UPDF Chief of Defense Forces.<ref name="5R">{{cite web| url=https://www.newvision.co.ug/category/sports/gen-gutti-handovers-office-to-brig-mugabe-139861 |title=Gen. Gutti handovers office to Brig. Mugabe |work=New Vision |date=1 August 2022 |author=Douglas Mubiru and Michael Odeng |access-date=6 August 2022 |location=Kampala, Uganda}}</ref> He took the oath of office and assumed office the next day.<ref name="6R">{{cite web| work=New Vision |date=2 August 2022 |author=Douglas Mubiru |url=https://www.newvision.co.ug/category/news/court-martial-chief-mugabe-other-officials-sw-139945 |title=Court Martial chief Mugabe, other officials sworn in |access-date=6 August 2022 | location=Kampala, Uganda}}</ref> In June 2024, he was appointed to a third consecutive term as the chairman of the GCM and was sworn into office by the Judge Advocate Colonel Richard Tukachungurwa.<ref name="7R">{{cite web| work=SoftPower Uganda | url=https://softpower.ug/court-martial-chief-brig-gen-freeman-mugabe-sworn-in-for-third-term/ |title=Court Martial Chief Brigadier General Freeman Mugabe Sworn In For Third Term | date=25 June 2024 |author=SoftPower |access-date=30 June 2024 | location=Kampala, Uganda}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * [https://www.newvision.co.ug/category/news/new-army-court-boss-begins-work-cancels-suspe-139979/ New army court boss begins work, cancels suspect’s bail] As of 3 August 2022.
{{Authority control}}
{{s-start}} {{s-mil}} {{s-bef | before =Andrew Gutti<br><small>As Chairman of the UPDF General Court Martial</small>|dates=2016 -2022}} {{s-ttl | title=Chairman of the UPDF General Court Martial|years=2022 - present}} {{s-aft | after =Incumbent<br/><small>As Chairman of the UPDF General Court Martial</small>}} {{end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mugabe, Robert Freeman}} Category:People from Western Region, Uganda Category:Living people Category:Ankole people Category:1960s births Category:Ugandan generals Category:Uganda Military Academy alumni