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Uganda's president, who has been in workplace for almost 4 a long time, has appointed his son as head of the nation's army, fueling long-standing suspicions within the East African nation that the chief will someday succeed his son. Making ready for the successor.
President Yoweri Museveni mentioned late Thursday night time That he had named his son, 49-year-old Common Muhoozi Kainrugaba, because the nation's prime military commander. Common Kainrugaba served as a senior advisor to his father, and was attending giant rallies to assist set up himself as a successor throughout the nation – at the same time as specialists say Mr Museveni, who’s 79, is unlikely to relinquish energy throughout his lifetime.
Common Kainrugaba had made international headlines lately for his irregular, late-night tweets. A minimum of one of many basic's closest confidants was nominated for a prime Cupboard submit.
Mr Museveni, a six-time president, is predicted to run in Uganda's subsequent elections in 2026, and can proceed to tighten his grip on the plush, landlocked nation. However his advancing age and tensions between his shut associates within the army and the ruling social gathering have rekindled discussions about an alleged plan from a decade in the past that claimed he was grooming his son for energy. Had been.
Mr Museveni has repeatedly denied such a plan, generally often called the “Muhoozi Challenge”.
Since coming to energy in 1986, Mr Museveni, a key Western ally, has dominated Uganda with an iron fist, cracking down on press freedom, jailing opposition leaders and torturing his critics. Mr Museveni, his son and different prime Ugandan officers have been accused of crimes towards humanity in an utility filed on the Worldwide Felony Courtroom final 12 months.
Mr Museveni additionally signed a broadly condemned anti-gay regulation final 12 months that included a life sentence for anybody partaking in homosexual intercourse and was thought-about the harshest on the planet. In August, the United Nations human rights workplace in Uganda closed as a result of the federal government refused to resume the settlement permitting it to function within the nation.
Common Kainrugaba is the eldest little one and solely son of Mr Museveni, who additionally has three daughters. The President has mentioned that his first title, Muhoozi, means “avenger”. The son, who attended army colleges in the USA and Britain, has additionally served as commander of the Ugandan Military's land forces and head of an elite unit of particular forces chargeable for defending Mr Museveni and his pursuits.
In latest months, Common Kainrugaba has been attempting to burnish his picture and consolidate his help throughout the nation. He has been assembly with politicians and attending rallies, a transfer critics say violates guidelines barring active-duty army officers from taking part in politics in Uganda.
For a number of months now, he has shunned sharing provocative tweets, which have typically angered his father previously. He additionally holds the chairmanship of the Patriotic League of Uganda, a non-partisan group that he says goals to advertise nationwide satisfaction.
On Friday, some Ugandan observers mentioned the appointment of Common Kainrugaba not solely allowed Mr Museveni to intently monitor the army but in addition stored everybody guessing as succession politics escalated and elections approached.
“It appears to be a solution to strategically place the son in order that he can run the household property within the occasion of the daddy's demise,” Ugandan researcher and political analyst Michael Mutyaba mentioned in a phone interview.
The president, Mr. Mutyaba mentioned, “likes to be unpredictable, which is a method he maintains energy.”