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Gen Muhoozi still in the military, Uganda army says

Monday March 14 2022
Lt Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba.

Uganda's Commander of the Land Forces, Lt Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba. PHOTO | AFP

By MONITOR

The Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) has said the Commander of the Land Forces, Lt Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, has not retired from the army.

Gen Kainerugaba, who is also the senior presidential advisor on special operations, announced last Tuesday via his official Twitter handle that he was calling time on his tour of duty in the army 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.

Read: Uganda's First Son Gen Muhoozi to retire from army

In a telephone interview, Brig Felix Kulayigye — the UPDF spokesperson — told Sunday Monitor in no uncertain terms that Gen Kainerugaba is still an active-duty service member with the Force. 

Gen Kainerugaba last Tuesday boasted that “he and his soldiers have achieved so much” during the years of service.

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Brig Kulayigye said Gen Kainerugaba is “working normally” as “he is neither sick nor arrested.”

Since announcing his planned retirement, Gen Kainerugaba’s Twitter account has gone into hibernation. The Sandhurst-trained General has recently taken to the use of Twitter as a tool for communicating and engaging the public on current affairs.

The tweet led to speculation among members of the public that the First Son was leaving the army in order to prepare for an entry into elective politics. 

Several social media platforms — especially Facebook — are awash with pages that tout the First Son as the next president of Uganda. Gen Kainerugaba has never declared whether he has set his sights on the presidency.

But the tweet came at a time when Gen Kainerugaba had been engaging shuttle diplomacy with Rwanda to normalise a soured relationship. The First Son has also held talks with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta twice. 

Read more here

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