Uganda’s president, who has been in power for nearly four decades, has appointed his son to head the country’s army, fueling long-standing suspicions in the East African nation that the leader is grooming his son to one day succeed him.
The President Yoweri Museveni said late Thursday that he had named his son, General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, 49, as the supreme commander of the nation’s military. General Kainerugaba served as his father’s senior advisor and was participating in large gatherings across the country to help position himself as an heir — even as experts say Mr. Museveni, who is 79, is unlikely to relinquish power in his lifetime.
General Kainerugaba had burst onto the world stage in recent years for his erratic, late-night tweets. At least one of the general’s closest confidantes was also named to a senior cabinet position.
Mr Museveni, a six-term president, is expected to stand in Uganda’s next election, in 2026, and continue to tighten his grip on the lush, Mediterranean nation. But his advanced age and tensions between his close associates in the military and the ruling party have reignited talk of an alleged plot a decade ago in which he claimed to groom his son for power.
Mr Museveni has repeatedly denied such a plan, commonly referred to as the “Muhoozi Plan”.
Since taking power in 1986, Mr Museveni, a key Western ally, has ruled Uganda with an iron fist, cracking down on press freedom, jailing opposition leaders and torturing his critics. Mr Museveni, his son and other top Ugandan officials were accused of crimes against humanity in a submission made last year to the International Criminal Court.
Mr Museveni also signed a widely condemned anti-gay law last year, which included a life sentence for anyone involved in same-sex sex and was considered among the harshest in the world. In August, the United Nations human rights office in Uganda was closed after the government refused to renew an agreement allowing it to operate in the country.
General Kainerugaba is the eldest child and only son of Mr Museveni, who also has three daughters. His first name, Muhoozi, means “the avenger,” the president said. The son, who attended military schools in the United States and Britain, has also served as commander of the Ugandan army’s ground forces and as head of an elite special forces unit responsible for protecting Mr Museveni and his interests .
In recent months, General Kainerugaba has been trying to polish his image and consolidate his support at the national level. He has been meeting politicians and attending rallies, actions that critics say violate rules barring serving Ugandan army officers from participating in politics.
For months, he has refrained from sharing provocative tweets, which have angered his father at times in the past. He also assumed the presidency of the Uganda Patriotic Association, a non-partisan group that he says aims to foster national pride.
On Friday, some Ugandan observers said the appointment of General Kainerugaba allowed Mr Museveni not only to keep a close eye on the military but also to keep everyone guessing as succession politics looms and elections loom.
“It seems to be strategically placing the son so he can run the family fortune in case the father were to pass,” Michael Mutyaba, a Ugandan researcher and political analyst, said in a telephone interview.
The president, Mr. Mutyaba added, “likes to remain unpredictable, which is a way of maintaining power.”
