Uhuru Kenyatta, Museveni’s son Muhoozi Kainerugaba photo stirs up the net

Ugandan Commander of Land Forces, Lt-Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, 47, was rarely a commentator on Twitter. So when he posted a photo of him with President Uhuru Kenyatta, it definitely was a reflection of men in high spirits.

Lt-Gen Kainerugaba is the son of President Yoweri Museveni and his position means he holds the yam and the knife of his father’s military strategy for ground forces. A soldier since late 1990s, he often stayed off media or social media limelight. This week, he reflected on his “hero”, President Uhuru Kenyatta.

“I was honoured to visit my elder, my big brother and my hero recently in Nairobi,” he wrote on Twitter on Wednesday, a caption of a photo of him with the President.

Both wore camping boots and jeans and relaxed by a coffee table with water. The exact venue was unknown, but perhaps it would have helped to understand if water was the starter or finisher of whatever they were imbibing.

“President Uhuru is an inspiration to many of us across East Africa and Africa,” Muhoozi added in the Tweet. In the past, Muhoozi often stayed off regional stuff. In Kampala, some critics accused him of being detached from ordinary folk, having been commander of the Special Forces Command, the elite unit of the military that Ugandan President used often to crack down on things as diverse as terror merchants, illegal fishers and opposition politicians, earning praise and criticism in equal measure.

This week, he toured Mogadishu where he met with Ugandan soldiers serving in the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom).

Of late though, Muhoozi has been active and political analysts in Kampala have not shied away from indicating his drive to earn prominence in the society, and perhaps sustain his political ambition.

“One day he is writing about the coup in Guinea, another day he is expressing solidarity with the leaders of Egypt. In commenting about African affairs, some analysts say he is trying to acquire the “Pan African” credentials to boost his regional profile that could stand him in good stead,” argued Ugandan columnist Edris Kiggundu.

“Secondly over the past couple of years Muhoozi has built a loyal army of young Twitter followers, who worship at his feet but also viciously attack those who criticise the general,” he argued.

In Africa though, Twitter followers, many of who may be bots, rarely elect a President. So sometimes he takes it personal. Earlier in September, he called an ally of Bobi Wine, Museveni’s main rival in elections early this year, as an “embecile.” That also broke with the strict military code.

In Africa, he claimed the Guinea coup masterminds would have been put down quickly if Uganda authorised him to fly troops there.

And he angered Ethiopians recently after appearing to side with Egypt, and promising to defend Cairo against its enemies. Egypt and Ethiopia have a longrunning tiff on the use of the Nile waters, especially after Addis Ababa begun erecting Africa’s biggest dam on the Blue Nile.