Uganda dissidents on trial as president's son increases grip

General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the 52-year-old son of the president and head of the army, has ordered the arrest of leading activists and politicians in recent weeks and this weekend shut down the main independent media group.

He is known for controversial social media posts that veer from boasts about abducting and torturing opponents, to jokes about marrying Beyonce, and has repeatedly said he will be the next president after the 81-year-old Museveni, who has ruled Uganda for 40 years, leaves office.

Analysts say he has already become the dominant force in the country in recent weeks with a mounting crackdown on critics.

On Tuesday, a Kampala court will hear the long-standing treason charges against opposition leader Kizza Besigye, held in detention since his abduction from Kenya in 2024.

It will separately hear a case against Besigye's lawyer, Erias Lukwago, who was arrested this month on Kainerugaba's orders.

At the weekend, he also ordered the shutdown of the leading independent media group that runs the Daily Monitor newspaper and NTV station, declaring: "I DO NOT believe in a free press!"

His father, who won a seventh term in office less than six months ago, has made no comment on his son's recent actions.

People had previously taken Kainerugaba's threats "as a joke", said Gerald Walulya, senior lecturer in the journalism department of Makerere University.

"But for the first time we are seeing him being able to demonstrate power without any form of restraint from the father," he said.

Cultivating fear

There has long been speculation that Museveni was grooming his son to take over, though it has never been officially acknowledged.

Kainerugaba trained at Britain's elite military academy Sandhurst and rose quickly through the ranks to take over as army chief in 2024.

He has often mused about taking over as president, and runs his own political movement, the Patriotic League of Uganda.

"Do you Ugandans love me? Will you vote for me if I stand after Mzee?" he said on X this month, using an honorific for Museveni.

But the situation remains unclear, said Yusuf Serunkuma, political columnist for The Observer newspaper, with Kainerugaba still insisting that he is only following his father's orders.

"I'm not sure whether exhibiting power and cultivating fear is part of the strategy for Muhoozi or if he is simply doing what comes naturally to him... as a soldier," Serunkuma said.

Although he has many fans online, including 1.3 million X followers, his real popularity around the country is untested.

"If he were strategic, he would have taken lessons from his father and cultivated connections with the general public and the international community," said Serunkuma.

"Instead he's gone out of his way to break those connections."

CRIMINAL!

Much of the Ugandan opposition has been neutered in recent months.

Besigye, 70, who has run several times against Museveni in past elections, was snatched from Nairobi by armed men in an incident that drew international condemnation.

His family have accused the Ugandan state of torturing him and said he faces health issues.

Lukwago was preparing to serve legal papers summoning Kainerugaba over Besigye's abduction when he was himself arrested earlier this month, and is now accused of failing to reveal an alleged plot against the state.

Kainerugaba has made no secret of his disdain for due process, writing on X shortly after the lawyer's detention: "I'm proud of ALL the hurt and pain I will inflict on the CRIMINAL LUKWAGO!"

He has also targeted several of Uganda's rights groups, including Agora, which has been summoned to appear before police on Tuesday over allegations of fraud and money laundering.

The main opponent to Museveni in recent years has been singer-turned-politician Bobi Wine, who ran for the presidency in January.

But he was forced to flee the country after Kainerugaba threatened to hunt him down and behead him.