General Muhoozi Kainerugaba stirs the hornet’s nest, again
General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the firstborn of Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni, is no ordinary military leader or social media user.
And the army man loves controversy.
So controversial is he on Twitter that the 48-year-old dwarfs the likes of Kanye West and Miguna Miguna by far.
From threatening to overrun Nairobi to supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, backing the Tigray People’s Liberation Front in Ethiopia and blasting the United States, Muhoozi and controversy have walked hand-in-hand for decades.
Whenever the general takes to Twitter, where he has been active since 2020, the region holds its breath.
Muhoozi is now a four-star general – the highest rank in the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) – after his father promoted him days ago.
The general was at his troublemaking best as he trained his guns on Kenya last week.
Whoever said a tongue is such a small organ but capable of burning the world probably had not seen the fingers of the beloved son of the Ssebo from “Champala”.
In his Twitter outbursts, Muhoozi said it would only take his army two weeks to capture Nairobi and set up his headquarters in Westlands or Riverside.
Before that, he wondered why his “big brother” – Uhuru Kenyatta – gave up the presidency.
“My only problem with my beloved big brother is that he didn’t stand for a third term. He would have won easily!” he tweeted.
The tweets not only embarrassed his father and Ugandans but also raised a storm, with Kenyans on Twitter baying for Muhoozi’s blood.
But instead of apologising, the general’s fingers led him back to his favourite microblogging site to downplay the unnecessary storm he had created.
“I’m glad that I have scared you Kenyans a bit!” Two weeks is long. Nairobi in one week for sure!” he wrote.
“After capturing Nairobi, I shall take my wife on a tour of our district.”
Ironically, he was immediately promoted by Museveni, who said that despite his son’s mistakes, he had done a lot for the military.
It is Muhoozi’s love for partying and provocative social media posts that thrust him into the limelight.
In April, the general formed a national committee to throw parties across the country in celebration of his 48th birthday.
The team threw parties for three consecutive weeks in many Ugandan towns, including capital, Kampala – the venue of the main event on May 1.
Muhoozi took to his favourite platform to announce his retirement from the army in March.
But in his usual eccentric manner, he made a U-turn and said he would leave the UPDF in 2030.
And on March 1, the general tweeted that the “majority of (non-White) mankind supports Russia’s stand on Ukraine”.
Muhoozi was on the International Criminal Court radar during his time as the head of the Special Forces Command, an elite unit of the military that was blamed for hundreds of abductions and torture. He was named in complaints filed by some of the abductees.
Muhoozi joined the Ugandan armed forces in 1999 and quickly rose to be the presidential adviser on special operations.
He was promoted to Lieutenant-General and Commander of the UPDF Land Forces in June last year.
Though Muhoozi and his father have repeatedly denied it, it needs no little bird to whisper to anyone that the general is Museveni’s preferred successor.
