General Muhunzi: Ugandan Museveni apologizes to Kenya for his son’s invasion tweets

CNN
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President Yoweri Museveni has apologized to Kenyans for tweets by his son Muhuzi Kinirugaba that repeatedly threatened to invade Uganda’s east African neighbor.

In a series of tweets on Monday and Tuesday, Kinirugaba posted provocative messages, among them a proposal to unite Kenya and Uganda.

“It will not take us, my army, and I, two weeks to capture Nairobi,” Kaynerugaba Wrotereferring to the capital of Kenya.

“Union is a must! An honorable man cannot allow these artificial colonial borders anymore. If our generation has men, these borders must fall!”

President Museveni apologized for his son’s remarks, saying that it was wrong for public officials to meddle in other countries’ affairs.

“I ask our Kenyan brothers and sisters to forgive us the tweets sent by General Muhozi, the former commander of the ground forces here, regarding election matters in that great country,” Museveni wrote in a statement Released Wednesday on its official website.

His comments sparked angry reactions from Kenyans on social media, and removed Kinyerugaba, who is widely seen as the de facto commander of the army and his chosen successor, from his position as commander of the Ugandan ground forces. It was not clear if the change was made after his controversial tweets.

was later Promoted from team rank A statement from the Ugandan Ministry of Defense announced that he has reached the rank of full general and will remain a senior presidential advisor for special operations.

Although he apologised, Museveni justified Kainerugaba’s promotion, saying his son only erred in his comments and not in his service.

“Why, then, is he being promoted to full general after these comments? This is because this mistake is one of the aspects in which he has acted negatively as a general,” said the Ugandan leader.

“However, there are many other positive contributions the general has made and can still make,” he added while describing Kainerogaba as an “enthusiastic champion of Pan-Africanism.”

Kinyerugaba is outspoken on social media, often exchanging barbs with opposition figures and influencing politics, despite his military role preventing him from doing so.

Kainrugaba also asked his more than 600,000 Twitter followers how many cows should be given as a bride-price to Georgia Meloni, a right-wing politician expected to be named Italy’s prime minister this month.

“I was going to give her 100 Nkore cows right away! For being so brave and right!!”, he Wrote.

Kainerugaba later said the comments were made in jest. While an aide to Francesco Lollobrigida told reporters that Kinerogaba’s offer was not a serious topic.

Ugandan analysts and opposition leaders have long accused the 78-year-old Museveni of grooming his son to take power from him, but Museveni, who has been in power for 36 years, has repeatedly denied doing so.