Prime
The travesty of Muhoozi’s bid for president
Author: Moses Khisa. PHOTO/FILE
What you need to know:
- A ‘president Kainerugaba’ is simply not the right fit for the forces and circumstances of Uganda today.
In January 1986 when his father captured state power, Muhoozi Kainerugaba was a young boy of just under 12 years. Today, he is a four-star army general! This is extraordinary.
Until recently, he was commander of the nation’s land forces, one of the topmost positions, for some time, he was believed to wield perhaps more power than those occupying higher positions in military hierarchy.
Gen Kainerugaba had every right to join the armed forces and rise through the ranks, but there was always going to be questions of preferential treatment and favouritism from the commander-in-chief, his father.
Now we face a bigger conundrum, of the son seeking to take the presidency from his father. If it were to happen, it wouldn’t be unique to Uganda, but the act of a departing head of state/government actually handing power to their child in a public ceremony is a very rare occurrence worldwide.
In our times, children have stepped forward or been propped when their parents die unexpectedly or after an intervening period when they draw on their family social capital to bid for state power.
Uganda is at dangerous political crossroads. Gen Kainerugaba’s move to succeed the father compounds the matter of peaceful transfer of power and is likely to throw the country in turmoil.
Something rather jarring and surreal has been at play over the past two years. A serving senior army officer, still uniformed or at least legally expected to be in uniform, has engaged in unprecedented and patently unconstitutional conduct in ways that no other officer of the Museveni era has ever attempted.
No servicing soldier of the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF), formerly the National Resistance Army (NRA), ever declared the intention to stand for president and went about freely with public activities promoting that declared ambition.
Previously, soldiers only engaged in political activities on behalf of Gen Museveni, their commander-in-chief, and at his behest to further his quest to maintain a grip on power. Any serving officer who remotely spoke against, or did anything contradicting, the status quo was expressly detained and prosecuted before the military court martial. The best examples are Henry Tumukunde and David Tinyefunza (Sejusa), both now retired as three and four star Generals, respectively.
The NRA was never a truly professional army, rather it was a military wing of a political organisation seeking state power. So its officers and men engaged in partisan politics and undertook activities were ideally outside of the realm of uniformed personnel.
By contrast, the UPDF was supposed to mark a fundamental departure away from an initial unprofessional military outfit and onto a professional, national armed force. All laws governing the UPDF, including the national constitution, enjoin its personnel and leadership to be strictly nonpartisan and to serve only the national defence and strategic interests of the country.
In practice though, the difference between the NRA and the UPDF in terms of partisanship and loyalty has been superficial – in the main, the latter has remained partisan and unfailingly loyal to the founder of the former, Gen Museveni.
But this partisanship and loyalty has heretofore been exclusively for Gen Museveni. No other officer of the armed forces has ever dared engage in public political activity unless they are doing so for the benefit, and even at the instruction of the commander-in-chief.
Therefore, Gen Kainerugaba’s situation is quite puzzling. All indications are that Gen Museveni is intent on ruling for as long as nature permits him, yet it appears the son too is determined to make the case that his father’s time is up and his time is neigh.
Knowing how Museveni acts swiftly and ruthlessly against anyone challenging his stay at the helm, or who mildly defies him, he would have been expected to rein in the son. That he hasn’t could suggest either he is unable because the son is so powerful (possible but improbable) or he has indeed blessed the son to prepare to succeed him, as has long been speculated and suspected.
Either way, we are in a very bad place with Gen Kainerugaba’s push for the presidency. If he is so powerful he is determined to wrestle power from the father, this will be disastrous. On the other hand, if it is all choreographed and the long speculated about ‘Muhoozi project’, a supposed father-to-son presidential succession plan, is coming to fruition, this too will be a total disaster for the country.
If we have learnt anything about Gen Kainerugaba over the past year of public comments on Twitter, made in blatant violation of all laws governing serving army officers, it is that he lacks both the wisdom, temperament and sophistication, at a minimum, needed to lead a country as socially and politically complicated as Uganda. A ‘president Kainerugaba’ is simply not the right fit for the forces and circumstances of Uganda today. Why? To which I turn next week.
