By Wanja Waweru
Yoweri Museveni, the president of Uganda, has expressed regret to William Ruto, the president of Kenya, just days after his son sparked controversy with a series of contentious tweets.
General Muhoozi Kainerugaba threatened to invade Kenya and take control of Nairobi, saying the invasion would only take “two weeks.”
“It wouldn’t take us, my army and me, 2 weeks to capture Nairobi,” Kainerugaba wrote, referring to Kenya’s capital.
The de facto military leader and his father’s designated successor, Kainerugaba, later claimed the remarks were made in joke.
Museveni released a statement on Wednesday in which he apologized for the trouble that Gen. Muhoozi’s Tweets had started.
The complete statement from Museveni is below.
Dear Ugandans, the brotherly People of Kenya and all East Africans.
I greet all of you. Again, I hail the peaceful elections that took place in Kenya recently where H.E.William Ruto emerged winner. I, again, congratulate him on that victory.
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.
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. 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. 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.
Very sorry, ndugu zetu Wakenya. Also sorry to the Ugandans 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. I have conveyed all those views confidentially to H.E. Ruto, the President of Kenya.
Signed: YK Museveni (Gen. Rtd.)The old man with a hat
