The Ugandan military on Monday refuted reports that claimed the Commander of the Land Forces, Lt Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, has resigned from the army, reported Reuters.
President Yoweri Museveni’s son, Kainerugaba, who is also the senior presidential advisor on special operations, announced on Twitter via his official Twitter handle on March 8 that he had retired from the military after nearly three decades of service.
“After 28 years of service in my glorious military, the greatest military in the world, I am happy to announce my retirement,” he tweeted.
The tweet was widely interpreted as a sign that Kainerugaba was all ready to enter politics to contest the presidency in the next election in 2026. Notably, Gen Kainerugaba’s Twitter account has gone into hibernation since he announced his planned retirement.
“The general has not retired from the army, he is still in active service,” Chris Magezi, spokesman for the land forces, told Reuters.
He added that the Ugandan army promotions and the commissions board, which is the military body mandated with handling retirement requests, has not received his application as yet.
According to the Ugandan law, serving soldiers are barred from participating in politics. The 47-year-old Kainerugaba has himself not said whether he wants to run for president but his supporters have been conducting online and street campaigns promoting his candidature.
Ugandan President Museveni, who is Africa’s fourth longest-ruling president, has long been accused by the opposition and rights groups for using the military to subdue his opponents through jail terms, intimidation, or beatings. The officials deny the accusations.
The 77-year-old Museveni was declared as the winner against his main opposition candidate, pop star-turned-politician Bobi Wine, after an election in January last year that was marked by violence.
Wine rejected the results as fraudulent. The European Union and the United States also described the polls as unfair.
