Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni’s son, who had said he would be a candidate for the 2026 presidential election, changed his mind and announced on Saturday, September 21, that he would not run and would support his father, in power since 1986. The latter, one of the longest-serving leaders in power in Africa, now 80 years old, has not officially announced his intention to run for a seventh term.
“I would like to announce that I will not be on the ballot for 2026. God Almighty has told me to focus on His Army first. Therefore, I fully support President Yoweri Museveni in the upcoming elections.”wrote Muhoozi Kainerugaba, head of the Uganda Forces (UPDF), in a message posted on X.
Considered by many Ugandans to be his father’s designated successor, the 50-year-old general added: “No civilian will rule Uganda after President Museveni. The security forces will not allow it. The next leader will be a soldier or a policeman”.
Muhoozi Kainerugaba announced in March 2023, in a message posted on Twitter (renamed “We are fed up with the old men who rule us, who dominate us. It is time for our generation to shine”. Then he launched his “MK Movement”whose members expressed their desire for it to become “the next president”.
The only son of President Museveni (who also has three daughters), known for his controversial statements on social media, Muhoozi Kainerugaba experienced a meteoric rise in the army, having undergone military command training abroad, notably at the prestigious British Sandhurst Academy.
A former commander of Uganda’s special forces who was promoted to major general in 2016, he was appointed army chief in March by his father. Yoweri Museveni has ruled Uganda with an iron fist since overthrowing President Milton Obote in 1986.
He was re-elected in 2021 for a sixth term with 58% of the votes, according to official results, ahead of his main opponent, former singer Bobi Wine (35%), who had denounced a “masquerade”.
The campaign was marked by harassment and arrests of opposition members, attacks on journalists and the deaths of at least 54 people at demonstrations in support of Bobi Wine, whose campaign had been largely hampered in the name of anti-Covid restrictions.
