Ugandan President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has publicly apologised to Kenya and its people for his son’s remarks.
Through a statement, Museveni pointed out that he reached out to President Dr. William Ruto and confidentially expressed his regrets about his son’s behaviour.
“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,” he said.
The letter further went to explain why he promoted his son despite the public uproar.
“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,” he added.
In an earlier statement, the Uganda People’s Defense Forces Spokesperson Brigadier General Felix Kulayigye downplayed the sentiments of General Kainerugaba, saying he bore no powers to declare war on any country.
It is not the first time general Muhoozi’s comments on sensitive foreign policy matters have caused diplomatic headaches for Uganda. A while back he tweeted in support of the Tigray rebels in northern Ethiopia cause an uproar in Addis Ababa.
Signing off the statement in a satirical manner “The Man with a Hat,” Museveni said, “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, this in reference to when the first son twitted that former President Uhuru Kenyatta would have secured a third term in office if he ran.