By Frank Kamuntu
Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni on Thursday appointed his son as top commander of the military, a controversial move in a country where many have long believed Museveni is grooming his eldest child for the presidency.
Museveni’s son, Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, has recently been holding rallies around the country. Kainerugaba says his activities — including the recent launch of an activist group known as the Patriotic League of Uganda — are nonpartisan and aimed at encouraging patriotism among Ugandans.
Kainerugaba was promoted to his new post late Thursday, according to a military statement. Two of his closest advisors have been given ministerial posts in a reshuffle of government ministers, also announced late Thursday.
Museveni, who took power in 1986 and has been elected six times.
Uganda’s next presidential election will be held in 2026.
Kainerugaba’s supporters say he offers Uganda the opportunity of a peaceful transfer of power in a country that has not had one since independence from British colonial rule in 1962. But opposition leaders, critics and others eager for change say his rise is leading the East African country toward hereditary rule.
Kainerugaba joined the army in the late 1990s, and his rise to the top of the armed forces has been controversial, with critics dubbing it the “Muhoozi Project” to prepare him for the presidency.
Kainerugaba has most recently been serving as a senior presidential advisor in charge of special operations, after his father removed him as infantry commander in 2022. He has previously served as the commander of an elite group of special forces protecting the first family.
