When, out of the blue, the son of East Africa’s longest-serving ruler decided to stir the Kenyan territorial waters on Twitter, everyone was, understandably – albeit perplexedly – shocked.
The man sending wickedly strange potshots at Kenya, threatening to “capture Nairobi”, was not just anyone – he was the Army General son of Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, a regional political powerhouse.
What began as a harmless Twitter shout-out to his ‘brother’ Uhuru Kenyatta quickly disintegrated as Muhoozi Kainerubaga repeatedly chided Kenya – and Kenyans at large – even musing over the possibility of setting up shop in one of Nairobi’s leafier suburbs.
But the more he tweeted, the less hilarious the situation became and people started to actually sit up and pay attention. This man, many agreed, was now pushing the envelope a little too far.
Kainerugaba, widely regarded as the de facto head of the military and his father’s chosen successor, later said the comments were made in jest.
Kainerugaba is outspoken on social media, frequently trading barbs with opposition figures and weighing into politics, despite his military role barring him from doing so.
Without making direct reference to Kainerugaba, Uganda’s ministry of foreign affairs said in a statement on Tuesday that it pledged its “peaceful co-existence” with neighbouring Kenya.
To temper the ruckus that Gen. Muhoozi’s Tweets had caused, Museveni issued a statement on Wednesday in which he apologised for the trouble.
Below is Museveni’s full statement.
Dear Ugandans, the brotherly People of Kenya and all East Africans.
I greet all of you. Again, I hail the peaceful elections that took place in Kenya recently where H.E.William Ruto emerged winner. I, again, congratulate him on that victory.
I ask our Kenyan brothers and sisters to forgive us for tweets sent by General Muhoozi, former Commander of Land Forces here, regarding the election matters in that great country.
It is not correct for Public officers, be they civilian or military, to comment or interfere in any way, in the internal affairs of brother countries. The only available legitimate forum is the Peer Review Mechanism of the African Union, or confidential interactions among us or EAC and AU fora –not public comments. Why, then, promote him to full general after these comments?
This is because this mistake is one aspect where he has acted negatively as a Public officer. There are, however, many other positive contributions the General has made and can still make. This is a time-tested formula –discourage the negative and encourage the positive.
Very sorry, ndugu zetu Wakenya. Also sorry to the Ugandans who could have been annoyed by one of their officials meddling in the affairs of brother Kenya.
I know for a fact that General Muhoozi is a passionate Pan-Africanist. However, the correct method for Pan-Africanists is confidential interactions or using the available fora (EAC and AU), especially if you are a Public officer. I have conveyed all those views confidentially to H.E. Ruto, the President of Kenya.
Signed: YK Museveni (Gen. Rtd.)The old man with a hat
