KAMPALA: The Leader of the Opposition (LOP), Mathias Mpuuga, says President Yoweri Museveni’s apology to Kenyans over the recent remarks by his son and the former Commander of the UPDF Land Forces, Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, falls short of punitive measures.
“We acknowledge the apology by Gen. Yoweri Museveni on behalf of his errant and out-of-sorts son. His apology falls short of punitive measures. “We are concerned that during the heat of the storm, Mr. Museveni chose to promote his son to a four-star general, the highest rank in the UPDF,” Mpuuga said.
This comes a few hours after Museveni officially extended an apology to Kenya for the provocative tweets sent out by Gen. Muhoozi, saying it would take the UPDF two weeks to capture Kenya’s capital, Nairobi. In his apology, Museveni explained why he had dropped Gen. Muhoozi from the position of the Commander of Land Forces and promoted him to a full general.
Muhoozi started a series of tweets on Monday through his official handle @mkainerugaba that he was on a mission to raze colonial borders and capture Nairobi within just two weeks. The tweets, which covered feeds across social media handles, sparked an online rage between Ugandans and Kenyans.
I love my Kenyan relatives. Constitution? The rule of law? You must be kidding! For us, there is only the Revolution, and you will soon learn about it! Muhoozi said in one of the tweets. The Ministry of Internal Affairs distanced itself from his sentiments.
Moments later, President Museveni made changes to the Uganda Peoples Defence Forces-UPDF Command. In what seemed to be an attempt to stop the damage, he removed Muhoozi from his position as Commander of Land Forces.
On Wednesday, Museveni said he had sent out an apology to Kenya’s president, William Ruto, regretting the unbecoming approach exhibited by Muhoozi on social media. “I ask our Kenyan brothers and sisters to forgive us for tweets sent by General Muhoozi, former Commander of Land Forces here, regarding the election matters in that great country. “It is not correct for public officers, be they civilian or military, to comment or interfere in any way in the internal affairs of brother countries,” Museveni said in a statement.
Museveni also said that making Muhoozi a four-star general, which is the highest rank in the UPDF, was a way to show appreciation for all the good things he has done, even though he has been acting badly in recent days.
“This is a time-tested formula—discourage the negative and encourage the positive. I am very sorry, ndugu zetu Wakenya. Also sorry to the Ugandans who could have been annoyed by one of their officials meddling in the affairs of brother Kenya, “Museveni added. However, the Leader of the Opposition, Mathias Mpuuga, has poked holes in the President’s apology. The Nyendo-Mukungwe MP says that acceptable practice would demand that Gen. Muhoozi be demoted to a lower rank.
“By promoting his erratic and careless son, Mr. Museveni is showing no concern for the reputation of the national army, which needs insulation from erratic and dangerous behavior, more so from one of its top officers. Mpuuga’s statement goes on to say, “The behavior of Gen. Muhoozi, which is not a secret to many Ugandans, should be a sobering reminder of what it takes to promote men in uniform who are not related by blood.”
He describes the tweets sent out by Gen. Muhoozi as irresponsible and provocative since they threaten to overrun a sovereign country with which Uganda has enjoyed cordial relations over the years. Mpuuga says that the tweets did not only make a mockery of the democracy and rule of law in Kenya but threatened Uganda’s national security by dragging the UPDF into the argument.
He says that this act should not be taken lightly since Kenya is Uganda’s main gateway to the sea and an economic powerhouse across the region, and that anything that affects relations between the two countries will have far-reaching implications for the business and livelihood of ordinary Ugandans.
Before the President apologized, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs put out a statement saying that Uganda values the strong bilateral relationships it has with Kenya. These relationships are based on shared history, values, mutual respect, trust, and the desire to build a unified East African Community.
The Ministry also said that the government of Uganda does not handle its foreign policy or other official business through social media, nor does it use social media to communicate with other sovereign governments.