Muhoozi Kainerubaga: The audacity of a Ugandan Prince

The man sending wickedly strange potshots at Kenya, the man threatening to "capture Nairobi", was not just anyone - he was the Army General son of Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, a regional political powerhouse.

What began as a harmless Twitter shout-out to his 'brother' Uhuru Kenyatta quickly disintegrated as Muhoozi Kainerubaga repeatedly chided Kenya - and Kenyans at large - even musing over the possibility of setting up shop in one of Nairobi's leafier suburbs.

At first, as Twitter swordplays go, it appeared funny, audaciously funny.

But the more he tweeted, the less hilarious the situation became and people started to actually sit up and pay attention. This man, many agreed, was now pushing the envelope a little too far.

But this was not the first time Muhoozi was cheekily poking his nose into Kenya's affairs.

Over the years, Muhoozi has expressed his unashamed admiration for former President Uhuru Kenyatta whom he repeatedly refers to as 'my big brother' and 'Afande'.

The number of deferential tweets that Muhoozi has directed to Uhuru Kenyatta are on the increase.

When he's not in a good mood, he veers so far from the Ugandan diplomatic script, he has since earned the cherished moniker 'The Tweeting General'.

In February 2022, the 48-year-old became the highest-ranked African military leader to openly support Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, tweeting: “The majority of mankind (that are non-white) support Russia's stand in Ukraine. Putin is absolutely right! When the USSR parked nuclear-armed missiles in Cuba in 1962 the West was ready to blow up the world over it. Now when NATO does the same they expect Russia to do differently?”

Uganda fell over itself trying to distance itself from the vitriolic statement.

In April of this year, Muhoozi briefly deactivated his Twitter account following a rebuke by his father during his chaotic 48th birthday celebrations. He would reactivate it months later.

Not so long after, the Ugandan Government Assurance Committee of Parliament summoned Kainerugaba for "misuse" of his Twitter account, after the fallout from yet another tweet in which he referred to European Parliament legislators as "jokers".

He ignored the summons and tweeted on, anyway.

Before that, in September 2021, after the military junta overthrew the Guinean Government, Muhoozi jumped to Twitter saying, "If our Commander in Chief gave us instructions, it wouldn't take UPDF a day to discipline mutinous troops like the ones in Guinea-Conakry".

Ouch.

The Military General was appointed by his father as the Commander of Land Forces in the army in June 2021 having previously served as the commander of the Special Forces Command.

It was the second time Museveni had promoted his son in the hierarchy of the army in a span of six months - and was also widely rumoured to be grooming the towering army commander as his successor.

The only son of Yoweri and Janet Museveni's four children, the bad boy of Uganda’s military, was born in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania on April 24, 1974. He went to school in Tanzania, Kenya (well, well...) and Sweden.

Muhoozi would then enjoy a quick rise through Uganda’s army ranks, having trained at Britain’s elite military academy, Sandhurst, as well as in Egypt, the US and South Africa.

He was first promoted to brigadier and put in charge of Uganda’s powerful Special Forces Command, before his elevation to Major-General in 2016 and eventual conferment of the Land Forces.

In the wake of his series of anti-Kenya tweets, many high-ranking Ugandans scrambled to squeeze out a statement and renounce the scion of Yoweri.

An uncensored Bobi Wine was first in line, saying, “Dear KENYANS, you now understand what it means to live in Uganda under Gen. Museveni and his son, whom he gifted the highest military ranks and put him in charge of our land forces! Sadly, beneath the senseless tweets lies a monster who brutalises and tortures our people for fun!”.

Undeterred by the mess he'd caused, and the eminent feathers he'd ruffled, Muhoozi, like the original good boy gone bad, still tweeted on, serving a smorgasbord of parody, fun, remorse and sarcasm.

Uganda’s government has distanced itself from Kainerugaba’s cryptic war messaging, saying the government does not conduct its foreign policy and other official business through social media, adding that Uganda is committed to peaceful coexistence with Kenya.

With the controversy fettered, Museveni promoted his son to the rank of full General and, as expected, the man spent the better part of the day retweeting hundreds of people who praised him for the 'promotion'.

Now, he has shifted attention to the majestic Ankole - a breed of large-horned Ugandan cows. Oh, and the yearning for the love of a white woman. Whichever white woman.

To twist the words of Kanye West, no one knows what's going on. But it's provocative.