The Leader of the Opposition, Joel Ssenyonyi, has said army chief Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba is not fit to lead the UPDF and that the job was handed to him by his father, Yoweri Museveni, as a “toy”.
Mr Ssenyonyi, who doubles as the spokesperson of the National Unity Platform, the leading opposition party, told journalists on February 4 at the party’s headquarters in Kavule near Kampala that the country’s image had suffered due to Gen Kainerugaba’s social media posts.
“He [Muhoozi Kainerugaba] is not fit to be army commander. But because he is the president’s son, they gave him the position of army commander. Just like a parent goes to a shop and buys a toy for his kid, such as a car or a gun, he was given the whole army.”
Mr Ssenyonyi added: “That is why he treats the army like a toy to play with. The things he writes [on social media] do not make sense: ‘I am looking for Kyagulanyi. I will kill him.’ This has tarnished our nation’s image.”
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Gen Kainerugaba has used his X page to unleash a torrent of inflammatory and controversial posts about opposition leader Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, popularly known as Bobi Wine, who remains in hiding after fleeing his home to evade house arrest.
Although Bobi Wine finished a distant second in the January 15 election, polling just 24.72% against Mr Museveni’s 71.65%, which he called “fake”, his home has been under siege for weeks. His wife, Barbie, has accused security forces of forcibly entering the house and vandalising property.
Gen Kainerugaba’s posts, some of which he deletes to avoid a backlash, have had serious implications on Uganda’s bilateral relations with countries in the region and beyond.
The US has rejected his apology over a post alleging that the US embassy in Kampala helped Bobi Wine to flee his home and that Uganda was suspending all cooperation with Washington, “including our work in Somalia”.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman, Jim Risch, said Gen Kainerugaba had “crossed a red line” and that the US had to re-evaluate its security partnership, which includes sanctions.
“The president’s son, and his likely successor, cannot just delete tweets and issue hollow apologies,” he wrote on X.
At the press briefing, Mr Ssenyonyi said the army chief’s actions speak to the unpopularity of the government, which he accused of abducting NUP supporters since 2021.
ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS OUR READERS OFTEN ASK
“Many of our supporters have been abducted. Polling agents were picked up from polling agents. They [the government] say they won the vote with 71.6%, but they had to arrest our polling agents.”
He said the NUP was demanding—not requesting—the release of all its supporters.
“It is a demand we are placing as leaders, as citizens of this country […] If you think they have committed any offence, why don’t you produce them in court?” Mr Ssenyonyi said.
The media briefing came days after NUP’s vice-president for Buganda region, Muwanga Kivumbi, who represented Butambala constituency in Parliament, was arraigned for terrorism, a charge he denies.
Security forces shot and killed seven people inside his house on January 16, accusing them of attempting to attack a police station.
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