Nairobi, Kenya, Oct 5 – Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has finally broken his silence, two days after his son Muhoozi Kainerugaba published controversial Twitter posts claiming that he and the Ugandan army would seize control of Kenya’s capital Nairobi in less than two weeks.
In a statement issued Wednesday, Museveni pleaded with Kenyans to forgive the East African Nation that borders Kenya over the tweets particularly related to the concluded August 9 polls.
Museveni’s statement was in relation to one of Muhoozi’s tweets where he had questioned why former President Uhuru Kenyatta failed to contest for a third term after his two-year term expired, arguing that Kenyatta would have easily won the country’s top seat if he had chosen to run.
President Museveni hailed Kenyans for maintaining peace during the elections that saw President William Ruto take over the reins of power.
“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,” Museveni stated.
“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. The only available legitimate forum is the Peer Review Mechanism of the African Union or confidential interactions among us or EAC and AU fora –not public comments,” he added.
Museveni went on to say that he had conveyed all those views including the apology confidentially to his Kenyan counterpart.
The Ugandan Head of State also asked for forgiveness from his countrymen who could have been “annoyed by one of their officials meddling in the affairs of brother Kenya.”
“I know for a fact that General Muhoozi is a passionate Pan-Africanist. However, the correct method for Pan-Africanists is confidential interactions or using the available fora (EAC and AU), especially if you are a public officer,” he added.
Museveni has since elevated Muhoozi to the position of the General of Uganda People Defence Forces (UPDF) land forces after his Twitter outburst.
He also defended his move to promote his son arguing there is a good side to him aside from the tweets.
“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,” he 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,” he added.
Muhoozi’s tweets on Monday sparked varied reactions from Kenyans and Ugandans alike, threatening a diplomatic spat between the two neighbors who have enjoyed cordial ties for decades.
However, Foreign and Diaspora Affairs Cabinet Secretary nominee Alfred Mutua said Tuesday that there is no cause to worry about the cryptic Kenyan invasion messages by Muhoozi.
His sentiments follow a meeting he held with Uganda’s ambassador to Kenya Hassan Galiwango.
“This morning I shared a social cup of tea with Amb. Dr Hassan Galiwango – Uganda High Commissioner to Kenya. We discussed interesting matters. Mambo iko Sawa,” Mutua affirmed.
In a statement on his Twitter handle in a move to unravel the initial heated temperature caused by the reckless claims in a series of tweets, Mutua assured Kenyans that everything is in place reiterating that there should be no cause for alarm, fear, or panic.
The meeting came a few hours after several leaders mounted pressure on President William Ruto to intervene and find a solution to the matter.
