Major General Julius Facki Oketta (3 October 1956 – 5 November 2016) was a

military officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer (NCO), or a warrant officer. However, absent c ...

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

. He was a senior

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

in the

Uganda People's Defence Force The Uganda People's Defence Force (UPDF), previously known as the National Resistance Army, is the armed forces of Uganda. From 2007 to 2011, the International Institute for Strategic Studies estimated the UPDF had a total strength of 40,000–4 ...

(UPDF). Before his death, he was the Director of National Emergency Coordination and Operations in the Office of the Prime Minister of Uganda. In October 2013, the

President of Uganda The president of the Republic of Uganda is the head of state and the head of government of Uganda. The President (government title), president leads the Executive (government), executive branch of the government of Uganda and is the commander- ...

nominated and the

Secretary General Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, Power (social and political), power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the org ...

of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

endorsed General Oketta to join the advisory group of the

(UN)

Central Emergency Response Fund The Central Emergency Response Fund (, CERF/FCIU) is a humanitarian fund established by the United Nations General Assembly on 15 December 2005 and launched in March 2006. With CERF's objectives to 1) promote early action and response to reduce ...

(CERF). In 2004, at the rank of

Brigadier Brigadier ( ) is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore (rank), commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several t ...

, he was a member of the pioneer class to attend the Uganda Senior Command and Staff College, at

Kimaka Kimaka is a neighborhood in the city of Jinja, in the Eastern Region of Uganda. Location Kimaka is bordered by to the west by the Nile River, (from Nalubaale Power Station to Bujagali Power Station), to the south by the Kampala-Jinja Highw ...

, Jinja,

Eastern Uganda The Eastern region is one of four regions in Uganda. As of Uganda's 2014 census, the region's population was . Districts , the Eastern Region contained 32 districts A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries ...

, under its first

Commandant Commandant ( or ; ) is a title often given to the officer in charge of a military (or other uniformed service) training establishment or academy. This usage is common in English-speaking nations. In some countries it may be a military or police ...

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

Ivan Koreta Ivan Koreta (born 15 October 1955) is a Ugandan retired military officer, diplomat and legislator. He is a retired general in the Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) and a former representative for the armed forces in the Parliament of Uganda, ...

. Oketta died in the early hours on 5 November 2016.

Work history

He joined the army in 1979 immediately after the overthrow of President

Idi Amin Idi Amin Dada Oumee (, ; 30 May 192816 August 2003) was a Ugandan military officer and politician who served as the third president of Uganda from 1971 until Uganda–Tanzania War, his overthrow in 1979. He ruled as a Military dictatorship, ...

. He was a UNLA officer before joining the NRA in 1985. From 1989 until 1993, he was the division commander of the 6th Division of the

National Resistance Army The National Resistance Army (NRA) was a guerilla army and the military wing of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) that fought in the Ugandan Bush War against the government of Milton Obote, and later the government of Tito Okello. NRA wa ...

(NRA). From 2001 until 2003, he was the chief of logistics and engineering in the UPDF. In 2003, he was the Uganda liaison officer, in the

Republic of Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

. Following that, he was the head of the Procurement and Disposal Unit at the Uganda Ministry of Defence during 2004. From 2007 until his death in 2016, he was the director of the National Emergency Co-ordination and Operations Center, in the Office of the Prime Minister. In 2013 he joined the UN CERF-Advisory Group. He was appointed to CERF's advisory committee. Members of the advisory group represent themselves and not their country. Other group members included Susan Eckey of Norway,

Susanna Moorehead Moorhead in 2017 at Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti Susanna Mary Davies Moorehead (born 22 April 1957) is a British diplomat and civil servant who served as Chair of the OECD Development Assistance Committee from 2018 to 2022. Early life and career ...

from the UK, Yukie Osa from Japan and Croatian Nancy Butijer.

Other responsibilities

He was also a Member of Parliament, representing the UPDF in the 9th parliament (2011 to 2016). In parliament, he was a member of the Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises. In September 2014, Major General Oketta was nominated to join the

African Union The African Union (AU) is a continental union of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, calling for the establishment of the African Union. The b ...

-led humanitarian mission to address the threat of the

Ebola Ebola, also known as Ebola virus disease (EVD) and Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF), is a viral hemorrhagic fever in humans and other primates, caused by ebolaviruses. Symptoms typically start anywhere between two days and three weeks after in ...

virus to the continent. The mission, code-named Africa Union Support to Ebola Outbreak in West Africa (ASEOWA), is based in

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

. Oketta was awarded a medal of honor by the President of Liberia for his efforts in the fight against Ebola.

References

External links

Uganda Sends Ebola Expert To West Africa
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oketta, Julius 1956 births 2016 deaths Acholi people Ugandan generals Ndejje University alumni People from Amuru District Ugandan military personnel Uganda Senior Command and Staff College alumni