Kampala, Uganda | By Michael Wandati | Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni on Wednesday 5, October 2022 apologised to Kenya, a day after his son Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba posted cryptic war messages on Twitter that he and his army could capture Kenya’s capital city Nairobi in less than two weeks.
“Dear Ugandans, the brotherly people of Kenya, and all East Africans. I greet all of you. I ask our Kenyan brothers and sisters to forgive us for the tweets sent by General Muhoozi,” is the message President Yoweri Museveni tweeted, hours after demoting him from the command of the UPDF land forces and promoting him to the rank of a full General, and retaining him as his adviser.
Gen. Muhoozi on Monday sent out a series of tweets – some serious, some in jest – about Kenya.
He said he had spoken to Kenya’s former President Uhuru Kenyatta, and expressed regret that he had stepped down at the end of his two terms in August.
“My only problem with my beloved big brother is that he didn’t stand for a third term. We would have won easily!” Gen Kainerugaba said.
In a later tweet to his more than 600,000 followers, he said: “It wouldn’t take us, my army and me, 2 weeks to capture [Kenya’s capital] Nairobi.
This led to an uproar on Twitter, with people accusing Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba of being “reckless” and jeopardising relations between the neighbouring states.
It led to him urging Kenyans to “relax”.
“I would never beat up the Kenyan army because my father told me never to attempt it! So our people in Kenya should relax!,” Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba tweeted.
President Museveni’s full statement on Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba’s tweets about Kenya
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 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 only available legitimate forum is the Peer Review Mechanism of the African Union or confidential interactions among us or EAC and AU fora –not public comments.
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.
Read Also: Museveni, Kagame express discomfort with Muhoozi’s tweets
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.
I know for a fact that General Muhoozi is a passionate Pan-Africanist. However, 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.
Signed:
YK Museveni (Gen. Rtd.)
The old man with a hat
