Fighting corruption in the military will be a top priority for Uganda’s military chief— son of veteran president Yoweri Museveni.
Muhoozi Kainerugaba, who was recently appointed by his father in a move widely expected to accelerate his rise to eventually succeed him, made the statement at a formal handover ceremony on Thursday.
Kainerugaba “vowed to improve the welfare of soldiers by fighting the evil of corruption and mismanagement of resources”, according to a statement released by the military.
Despite Ugandan regulations prohibiting serving military commanders from entering politics, Kainerugaba regularly engages in political sparring with opposition politicians and has established a pressure group that has been mobilizing political backing for him, earning him condemnation from both sides.
His military career was expedited, according to Uganda’s opposition, in order to position him to assume political power but his has denied that he is being prepared for president.
The Ugandan military is heavily involved in maintaining regional stability and has contingents fighting Islamist insurgents in Somalia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
He has being controversial with some of his stance and once once threatened to invade neighbouring Kenya. Kainerugaba has also praised Russian President Vladimir Putin after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, later said the threats were a joke.
The electoral commission released the roadmap for the 2026 polls expected to cost Ush1.3 trillion ($354.8 million) last year but opposition leaders including Dr Kizza Besigye, Robert ‘Bobi Wine’ Kyagulanyi and other politicians in Parliament, have argued that this is an exercise in futility if there is no holistic electoral reforms before then.