Ivan Koreta (born 15 October 1955) is a Ugandan retired military officer, diplomat and legislator. He is a former General in the Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) and a representative for the armed forces in the Parliament of Uganda; where he serves as a member of the Public Accounts Committee and the Committee on Presidential Affairs.[1]
Koreta has been a member of the armed forces since 1981 and most recently served as the deputy chief of defence forces, the second-highest position in the UPDF, from 2005 to 2013.[2] He also served from 2006 up until 2009 as the chairman of the General Court Martial, the second-highest military court in Uganda.[3]
While still in his teens, Koreta attended military training in Mozambique as a member of the Front for National Salvation, a guerilla group led by Yoweri Museveni. He participated in the war that removed Idi Amin from power in 1979. When Museveni formed the National Resistance Army (NRA) in 1981, Koreta joined him. During the Ugandan Bush War, he became a battalion commander in the NRA. During the April 1986 battle to capture the Ugandan capital city Kampala, his 13th NRA Battalion was responsible for guarding the Kampala-Gulu highway at Matugga.[4]
Since the NRA captured power and was subsequently transformed into the UPDF, Koreta has served in various roles, including the following:[1][5]
Commander of the First Division: 1986-1988 (at the rank of Brigadier General)
Deputy Director of the Internal Security Organization: 1988-2001
Appointed deputy commander of defence forces in Uganda: 2005
Appointed chairman of the General Court Martial: 2006
Appointed head of the Ugandan delegation on the Ceasefire and Transitional Security Arrangement Monitoring Mechanism (CTSAMM) team for South Sudan: 2015[6]
As a diplomat, Koreta led a Ugandan peace-keeping force to Liberia in 1994.[7] In 2016, he was elected as a representative for the UPDF in the 10th Parliament of Uganda; where he now serves as a member of the Public Accounts Committee and the Committee on Presidential Affairs.[8]
In February 2019 he was promoted from the rank of Lieutenant General to that of a Four-star General, in a promotions exercise involving over 2,000 men and women of the UPDF.[9]
