The 71-year-old leader’s son will be now become a major general and remains the top commander of special forces.
Uganda’s long-time president, Yoweri Museveni, promoted his son to a two-star general, thereby bolstering speculation that the son is being groomed to become his successor.
With the promotion, Museveni’s son, Muhoozi Kainerugaba, now becomes a major general and remains the top commander of Uganda’s Special Forces. The Special Forces is an elite unit inside the regular army that is mainly in charge of protecting the president and top government officials.
According to military spokesman Lt. Col. Paddy Ankunda on Tuesday, Kainerugaba is one of five army officers promoted in changes announced late Monday.
The belief among most Ugandans is that Kainerugaba, 42, is being prepared to eventually succeed his father, Museveni, who has ruled this East African country for 30 years.
However, Museveni has denied he wants his son to be his political heir, saying that Uganda is not a monarchy.
Most of Museveni’s colleagues with whom he fought the bush war that brought the president to power in 1986 have died or are in retirement, leaving a group of young officers holding command positions in the military. Many of those officers were recruited by Kainerugaba and are believed to be loyal to him.
“Kainerugaba is the leader of a certain band of people” around whom he is consolidating his power in the army, said Nicholas Sengoba, a political analyst and newspaper columnist in Uganda.
Although he was initially praised in the West as a reform-minded African leader, Museveni, 71, is increasingly accused by some critics of being a dictator. His main rival, Kizza Besigye, was charged last week with treason for leading protests challenging Museveni’s election victory in February.
