A new reign dawns in Uganda. For almost four decades, no one dared to challenge the leadership of the 78-year-old Ugandan dictator Yoweri Museveni, who has held power since 1986 thanks to constant harassment of the opposition, victories in contested transparency elections, and the favor of the military, authentic guarantors of his power. Until now. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, eldest son of the eternal Ugandan president, threatens the throne of his father.
With extensive military training after passing through prestigious centers in Kenya, Egypt, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States, Muhoozi, 48, whose name means "the avenger", asks for step to succeed Museveni.
Shrewd and foul-mouthed on social media, where he is extremely popular – he has 736,000 followers on Twitter – he himself took it upon himself to place himself in the spotlight a few weeks ago in a series of tweets, which he later deleted. Despite being ephemeral, the messages carried hemlock. “How many of you agree with me,” he asked his followers, “that our time has come? Enough of old people who rule us. that dominate us It's time for our generation to shine. Retweet and like it." Shortly before, he had confirmed in another message his desire to take command. "In the name of Jesus Christ, my God, and in the name of the youth of Uganda and the world, and in the name of our great revolution, I will run for president in 2026."
His messages were not so much a criticism of his father, with whom he maintains a good relationship and whom he visited this past Holy Week, but a declaration of war against the bureaucratic and military leadership that dominates the ruling National Resistance Movement (MRN) party. founded by Museveni.
From high places they look with suspicion at Muhoozi's presidential aspirations and insist that Museveni will stand for the elections in three years, despite the fact that he would then be 81 years old in one of the countries with the youngest population in the world, since the Uganda's median age is 16 years. The youth will be part of the battle in the elections because 78% of Ugandans were not born when Museveni and his trusted leadership dethroned the dictator Obote and enveloped themselves in an aura of liberators. Most Ugandans associate Museveni with an iron fist, not freedom.
That is why Muhoozi's movements are those of a strategist: given the rise and popularity of rapper Bobi Wine, the main figure of the opposition and a sort of African Che Guevara for the new generations, he has founded the MK Movement to distance himself from the "old" MRN, which he branded at the end of the year as "the most reactionary party in the world."
His intention to sell himself as a rebel adds to a provocative attitude reminiscent of the outbursts of former US President Donald Trump. A few months ago he joked about offering 100 cows for Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni. “In our culture, you give the woman you like a cow,” she said.
In some cases, his verbal incontinence has earned him a displeasure. In October, a tweet in which he claimed that the Ugandan army would be able to take Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, in two weeks, sparked a diplomatic incident that forced his father to remove him from the position of commander in chief of the Armed Forces.
That gesture, pushed by the indignation of the African neighbor but also by the internal powers that saw a loophole from which to attack the prince of Uganda, did not intimidate Muhoozi, who has good international relations both in the West and in the Middle East or with the neighboring Rwanda.
Also, and above all, with Russia. Muhoozi assured at the end of March that the West was wasting time with its "propaganda" in favor of Ukraine and offered to send troops from Uganda if one day Russia was threatened "by imperialism". "Call me a Putinist if you like," he wrote, "but we, Uganda, will send soldiers to defend Moscow if she is ever threatened by the imperialists!" A self-confessed admirer of Putin, Muhoozi added new proclamations. "With the acceptance of the Russian leadership, we will tour the battlefield of Stalingrad!"
Following Museveni's reign, Uganda is preparing for the arrival of a new king.
