Kampala, Uganda | URN | 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 Maj Tom Magambo, to the rank of Acting Lieutenant Colonel.
The promotion has been announced by Col Chris Magezi, the Acting Director of Defence Public Information at the Ministry of Defence and Veteran Affairs, UPDF. Magambo joined the Internal Security Organisation (ISO) in 2002 and served there for 20 years, rising to the rank of Chief Intelligence Officer and Director of Analysis.
At ISO, Magambo headed Regional Affairs, where he engaged in EAC, IGAD, ICGLR, and AU Peace and Security initiatives, and served in Internal Counterintelligence and Policy Analysis.
He also served as Acting DISO in Rukungiri, as a liaison officer in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and as Personal Assistant to then Director General Brig. Ronnie Balya.
He 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 as Director CID, replacing AIGP Grace Akullo, who had been at the helm for nearly 10 years.
What made Magambo’s appointment unique in Police history was that he had never served as a police officer before. He came straight from ISO as a civilian intelligence operative who, on paper, was only a Private in the UPDF, despite holding a PhD and having risen to the top civilian intelligence rank of Chief Intelligence Officer.
In one move, Museveni promoted him from Private to Major, jumping nine ranks at once, and handed him the most sensitive investigative office in the Police Force, a post traditionally reserved for career police officers who had risen through the ranks from constable to AIGP.
It was the first time a non-police officer from ISO was brought in to head CID, a decision that sent shockwaves through the Force and broke the long-standing tradition of CID being led from within.
In April 2022, Museveni promoted him again to Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIGP) to regularise him in the Uganda Police Force. Since his appointment, Magambo has been credited with changing the face of CID by modernizing operations, tackling organized crime, and improving investigative efficiency.
He introduced refresher training for CID personnel, mass transfers to break overstays in stations, revived plain-clothes allowance for detectives, and pushed for digitisation of crime data, including a 24-hour call centre and a Crime Data Analysis Centre at Kibuli currently under construction.
In February 2025, President Museveni renewed Magambo’s contract as Director CID for another two years. The UPDF congratulated Lt Col Magambo on the promotion and wished him continued success in his duties.
