By Spy Uganda
Kampala: President Museveni has apologized to Kenya for a series of tweets by the First Son, Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba that has since caused a commotion on social media in both Uganda and Kenya.
In a statement released on Wednesday, President Museveni apologized for the inconvenience the tweets caused Kenyans.
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,” Museveni said.
Dear Ugandans, the brotherly people of Kenya, and all East Africans. I greet all of you.
I ask our Kenyan brothers and sisters to forgive us for the tweets sent by General Muhoozi.Below is my full statement https://t.co/2xQjFNge2G pic.twitter.com/CmgnknFpUt
— Yoweri K Museveni (@KagutaMuseveni) October 5, 2022
Museveni further noted that the only available legitimate forum is the Peer Review Mechanism of the African Union or confidential interactions among heads of state, the East African Community and the African Union and not public comments like Muhoozi did.
He insisted that although Muhoozi is a “passionate Pan- Africanist”, social media was not the correct forum for discussing such matters, especially for a public officer.
“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, ”he added
Museveni said he has since conveyed all these views confidentially to President Ruto.
On Monday this week, Gen. Muhoozi in a series of tweets said he would only need two weeks with his army to capture Kenya’s capital, Nairobi.
“It would take us, my army and me two weeks to capture Nairobi. After we capture Nairobi, where should I live? Westlands? Riverside? , I am happy that members of our district in Kenya have responded enthusiastically to my tweet. It’s still two weeks to Nairobi,” he said.
“Haha! I love my Kenyan relatives. Constitution? Rule of law? You must be joking! For us (Uganda), there is only the revolution and you will soon learn about it!” he added.
The General’s comments on the Blue App have since become a centre of debate with some analysts saying they would cause diplomatic issues between the two east African countries.
Following the controversial tweets and heated debates, Gen. Muhoozi has since been promoted to the rank of a full General and replaced with Maj Gen Kayanja Muhanga as the new Commander of Land Forces.
Meanwhile President Museveni has defended the move to promote his son to the rank of a full General something that has drawn a lot of od criticism from a section of Ugandans, especially the opposition.
“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,” Museveni said.
“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.”
The Tuesday promotion saw Gen.Muhoozi at 48 become the youngest serving four-star general of the UPDF and has since vowed to throw a street party along Kampala road to celebrate the new promotion in a few days to come.
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