Kampala, Uganda – 7″ October “2022” SOURCE: AL JAZEERA
On Tuesday, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni dropped his son, General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, as commander of the land forces section of the army after he tweeted that he would capture Kenya’s capital city Nairobi in two weeks.
The tweets set off a chain of diplomatic meetings between both countries in the capitals, Kampala and Nairobi.
In addition, Uganda’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement saying it was still good neighbours with Kenya and clarified that it does not conduct foreign policy through social media. Uganda’s junior foreign minister also held a meeting with Ethiopia’s ambassador following another Kainerugaba tweet expressing support for rebels in the northern region of Tigray.
A public apology from the president to his Kenyan counterpart, William Ruto, followed soon after.
On his part, 48-year-old Kainerugaba said he had a call with his father and that his tweets had “scared Kenyans too much”, but did not exactly apologise.
And the removal of the younger Museveni came with a curious promotion to four-star general, the highest rank in Uganda’s army
For years, the general, who many believe is being groomed to succeed his father as the country’s next president, has been a fervent Twitter user in a manner that has been compared with former US President Donald Trump. Museveni, has been in power since 1986 but is believed to be considering retirement from active politics soon.
His tweets, coming often late at night or very early in the morning, have also included barbs at the opposition.
Advice from his father who reportedly asked him to stop discussing foreign policy on Twitter and from Rwandan President Paul Kagame who has offered to edit his tweets have gone unheeded.
Tweeting a storm
Kainerugaba’s tweets have also laid bare his impulsiveness. He has announced retiring from the army only to reverse his decision in hours. He deactivated his Twitter account in mid-April and communicated through a spokesperson that he would not return to the platform until Elon Musk – a figure he admires – acquired the company. But he was back two days later.
The general has previously praised Italy’s new far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni for being fearless, supported Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and declared support for Rwanda in its ongoing spat with the Democratic Republic of the Congo over M23 rebels.
Following the coup in Guinea last year, he tweeted that the Ugandan army would need a day to discipline mutinous Guinean soldiers. Last year, he pledged to fight anyone who attacks Egypt and declared Trump as the only white man he has ever respected.
His social media use has become a subject of debate given that the law bars serving army officers from engaging in politics. Supporters argue he has a right to freedom of speech like any Ugandan and should be given some leeway for his status.
“He is not just an army officer,” Andrew Mwenda, who has been a close friend of Kainerugaba for decades, told Al Jazeera. “He is the son of the president. People should know that and accept it as the reality.”
Following his father’s footsteps
Like his father, Kainerugaba has spent most of his life in military service. He was born in Dar-es-Salaam in 1974 when his father was already engaged in rebellious activities against his predecessor Idi Amin’s government.
Fatherly love backed by the state might prevail in the end, says Kampala-based independent researcher Frederick Golooba-Mutebi, who sees Museveni’s apology on behalf of his son as a signal of an intent to support him against all odds.
“If the son messes up and he promotes him to general, then that would suggest to any rational person that he doesn’t think that what Muhoozi did was a bad thing,” he said.
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA