Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni has appointed his son, Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the head of the Military in the East African country.

According to Reuters, the news was relayed in a statement by the nation’s defence ministry on Friday.

Muhoozi Kainerugaba a forty-eight (48) year-old general in the Ugandan military widely believed to be his father’s successor would replace Wilson Mbasu Mbadi, who was removed and appointed as a junior minister.

In 2002 Muhoozi caused much controversy when he threatened on his X page to invade neighboring Kenya. This prompted his father President Museveni to remove him as the commander of Uganda’s land forces.

In his X posts, Muhoozi also declared openly his support for Russian President Vladimir Putin on the war in Ukraine.

Muhoozi remains a polarising figure feared by many but also praised for philanthropic acts, such as paying students’ medical costs or footing the hotel bill for the cash-strapped national basketball team during the 2021 AfroBasket championships.

What to Know

• Uganda is set to hold its next election in early 2026 and Museveni is widely expected to seek re-election.

• Muhoozi is Married to Charlotte, a businesswoman. the father-of-three is said to have been instrumental in a rapprochement between Uganda and Rwanda in 2022.
• He was also rumoured to have played a key role in a joint operation by Ugandan and Congolese forces in 2021 against the ADF in the eastern DR Congo.