First son Maj. Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba has distanced his new appointment as Special Presidential Advisor for Special Operations as a move to fast track him to the Presidency.
Last week, President Yoweri who is the Commander in Chief of the Uganda People’s Defence Forces announced a new army reshuffle, which saw his son shifted from his previous role as head of the Special Forces Command to a presidential advisor, a move that political analysts say was meant to familiarise him with the workings of the presidency.
In an exclusive interview granted to NTV’s Sheilla Nduhukire, the first son dismissed the talk of the so called “Muhoozi Project” that is meant to prepare him for the top job in the land.
“That so called project is non-existent. It’s not there. It does not exist,” Muhoozi said.
“As far as this new position preparing me for politics, I don’t think that’s the case because I know and most people know the path to politics. It’s different from the one I’m on now. If I retired and went and stood in my constituency, then you would say he is now taking on a political career, but this is far from that. I’m still within the national security framework of the country,” he said.
“Would you consider politics elective or otherwise?” Nduhukire probed.
“Right now that’s not on my radar at all as I said before, because we are looking at other tasks now. I’m going to be focused on my new job. I’m not considering a political career right now,” Muhoozi answered.
He was then asked if he would be considering politics in the future.
“We are back to hypotheticals, I don’t like dealing with hypotheticals,” he said.
Shedding light on his new role
Muhoozi said his new role in the office of president is about enhancing the capabilities of special operation forces.
“There are some in military, in police and other areas. But there is also an element of advice on national security,” he said.
“When I was commander of SFC, I was focused on that formation, but now when you talk of all the special operations forces that are available, when you expand that to talk about national security as well, that’s a different platform from just commanding SFC,” he said.
His legacy
Muhoozi transformed the SFC from a unit guarding the president and key security installations to a fully-fledged fighting force.
“There was also work with regards to infrastructure development, which we have achieved a lot in when I was in command. We have done a lot to tackle issues like improving accommodation and improving training facilities, so that’s a big achievement,” he said.
