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Uganda’s president, in power for nearly four decades, has appointed his son to head the country’s military, sparking long-standing suspicions that he is grooming him to succeed him.
of President Yoweri Museveni said this late on Thursday. He appointed his son, General Muhoozi Kainerugaba (49), as the country’s top army commander. General Kainerugaba has served as a senior adviser to his father. Attending a large gathering Experts say the 79-year-old President is unlikely to relinquish power during his lifetime, but he is campaigning across the country to position himself as a successor.
Gen. Kainerugaba has attracted global attention in recent years for his erratic late-night tweets. At least one of the general’s closest aides has also been appointed to a top cabinet position.
Six-term president Museveni is expected to run in Uganda’s next election, scheduled for 2026, and continue to tighten his grip on the lush landlocked country. But his age and tensions between the military and his inner circle in the ruling party have rekindled rumors about a decade-old plot he reportedly orchestrated to put his son in power.
President Museveni has repeatedly denied any such plans, popularly referred to as the “Muhoozi Plan.”
President Museveni, a key Western ally, has ruled Uganda with an iron fist, cracking down on press freedom, jailing opposition leaders and torturing critics since coming to power in 1986. Museveni, his son and other senior Ugandan officials were accused of crimes against humanity in a complaint filed with the International Criminal Court last year.
Last year, President Museveni also signed a widely condemned anti-gay law that imposed some of the world’s harshest penalties, including life imprisonment for anyone caught engaging in homosexual acts. In August, the Ugandan government closed its UN Human Rights Office after it refused to renew an agreement allowing the office to operate in the country.
Gen. Kainerugaba is President Museveni’s eldest and only son. The president has three other daughters. According to the president, his first name, Muhoozi, means “the avenger.” The son, who attended military schools in the United States and the United Kingdom, served as an Army Commander in the Ugandan Army and as the head of an elite special forces unit tasked with protecting President Museveni and his interests.
Gen. Kainerugaba has sought in recent months to burnish his image and consolidate nationwide support, meeting with politicians and attending rallies that critics say violate Uganda’s rules banning active military personnel from participating in politics.
In recent months, he has refrained from posting the kind of provocative tweets that in the past angered his father, and he also became chairman of the Uganda Patriotic League, a nonpartisan group that aims to foster national pride.
Some Ugandan observers said on Friday that Gen. Kainerugaba’s appointment not only allows President Museveni to keep a tight check on the military but also keeps everyone perplexed as the battle for succession gets into full swing and elections draw near.
“This appears to be a strategic move to put the son in a position to take over the family business if the father dies,” Michael Muchaba, a Ugandan researcher and political analyst, said in a telephone interview.
“The president likes to remain unpredictable and that’s one way he stays in power,” Muchaba added.
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