President Museveni apologised for Muhoozi’s ‘annoying’ tweets.
Uganda’s President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni on Wednesday apologised to Kenyans and Ugandans following a flurry of tweets by his son and former commander of land forces, Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, insinuating that together with his army he can capture Nairobi in two weeks.
The Ugandan leader issued a statement seeking forgiveness from Kenyans over the tweets which caused quite a stir and also used the opportunity to explain why he promoted him to the rank of General, the highest rank in Uganda People’s Defence Force (UPDF) and dropped him as commander of land forces.
“Dear Ugandans, the brotherly People of Kenya and all East Africans. I greet all of you. Again, I hail the peaceful elections that took place in Kenya recently where H.E. William Ruto emerged the winner. I, again, congratulate him on that victory,”
“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,” the statement reads in part.
He added that the only available legitimate forum is the Peer Review Mechanism of the African Union or confidential interactions among concerned people or EAC and AU fora –not public comments.
Defends promotion
President Museveni also took time to defend the promotion of Muhoozi, who is also a Senior Presidential Advisor in Charge of Special Operations, to the rank of General, despite his Twitter shenanigans.
“Why, then, promote him to full General after these comments? This is because this mistake is one aspect where he has acted negatively as a Public officer. There are, however, many other positive contributions the General has made and can still make,”
“This is a time-tested formula –discourage the negative and encourage the positive. 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,” President Museveni said.
He added that he knows for a fact that General Muhoozi is a passionate Pan-Africanist but added however that the correct method for Pan-Africanists is confidential interactions or using the available fora (EAC and AU), especially if you are a Public officer.
“I have conveyed all those views confidentially to H.E. Ruto, the President of Kenya,” he added.
For almost a week, Muhoozi has been on a tweeting spree, tweeting about the Prime Minister-elect of Italy, a borderless East African Community (EAC) and the tweets about Kenya.
He started off by tweeting that he had just spoken to his ‘big brother’ Uhuru Kenyatta but added that the only problem he has with him is not seeking a third term in office, a comment that angered Kenyans who elected a new President in August, after Uhuru completed his mandate.
“Just spoke to my big brother, Afande Uhuru. An incredible man! I love him for his courage, honesty and intelligence! He will visit Uganda soon. My only problem with my beloved big brother is that he didn’t stand for a third term. We would have won easily!” Gen Muhoozi first tweeted, sharing a photo of himself and the former Kenyan leader.
He later tweeted about capturing Nairobi in two weeks and insisted that ‘borders must fall’. The comments infuriated sections of Kenyans who accused him of overstepping his boundaries while others simply laughed it off. He is yet to delete the posts which triggered a huge social media debate.
