KAMPALA, Uganda — Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni fired his son as commander of the nation’s infantry forces Tuesday after the son tweeted an unprovoked risk to seize the capital of neighboring Kenya, drawing widespread concern in East Africa.
Lt. Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, dubbed ‘the tweeting common’ of Uganda, in current months had sparked anger amongst some Ugandans who see his frequent posts on Twitter as provocative and typically even harmful.
He has tweeted in help of the Tigray rebels combating Ethiopian federal troops. He is voiced help for violent rebels combating in japanese Congo. He stated all Africans help Russia in its battle in Ukraine. Bizarrely, he just lately stated he was providing 100 long-horned cattle — apparently as bride value — for Italy’s incoming feminine prime minister.
A few of Kainerugaba’s supporters say his tweets are makes an attempt at humor and shouldn’t be taken severely. However many others see a much bigger downside. As a military officer, he’s constitutionally barred from partaking in partisan politics and a few Ugandans level out that another soldier tweeting like Kainerugaba could be court-martialed.
“It wouldn’t take us, my military and me, 2 weeks to seize Nairobi,” he tweeted Monday.
That risk to grab the capital of Kenya went too far for his father, an authoritarian chief who has held energy since 1986.
Kenyan President William Ruto, who took energy final month, is pleasant with Museveni, whom he described because the area’s “father” throughout his inauguration.
Kainerugaba’s tweets exasperated many Kenyans, and the international minister tweeted Tuesday that he had a gathering with the Ugandan ambassador. Uganda’s international ministry dismissed Kainerugaba’s tweets in an announcement that spoke of a “harmonious relationship that we worth.”
Kainerugaba, the pillar of his father’s private safety equipment, has been the de facto head of Uganda’s navy, along with his allies strategically deployed in command positions throughout the safety providers, in response to observers. Though he was sacked from his publish as head of Uganda’s infantry forces, Kainerugaba nonetheless was promoted to a four-star common and can stay a navy adviser to his father, in response to an announcement issued by the navy Tuesday. He was changed as infantry commander by Lt. Gen. Kayanja Muhanga.
Many Ugandans imagine Kainerugaba is being groomed to interchange Museveni as president, allegations the president has lengthy denied.
Kainerugaba’s associates describe him as a devoted navy officer who usually eschews ostentatious shows of energy and wealth. He attended navy faculties within the U.S. and Britain earlier than taking cost of a presidential guard unit that has since been expanded into an elite group of particular forces.
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This story has been corrected to indicate that Muhoozi Kainerugaba was promoted to a four-star common, not a five-star common.