STATE HOUSE: A total of 280 Ugandans were invited to the 48th birthday dinner for land forces commander, Lt. Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, at State House Entebbe on Sunday night.
Although a few did not turn up, the ceremony was splendid and serene.
The invited guests were carefully selected from amongst Muhoozi’s friends, government officials, the business community, the coporate world and the armed forces.
The list which is uploaded below this story, reads like the ‘who is who’ in Uganda’s corporate, business, political and military spheres.
At State House, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni joined his Rwandan counterpart President Paul Kagame to heep salutions on Uganda army’ land forces commander, Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, for helping to retore ties between the two countries.
The two were preceeded by First Lady Janet Museveni who thanked God for the life of her son and what he has achieved in his career and for the country.
President Museveni told the gathering that he was impressed that President Paul Kagame had honoured Muhoozi’s invitiation.
“I once again congratulate Lt Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba and I would like to thank His Excellency Paul Kagame for responding to his invitation. Kagame and Muhoozi have a long history together and they are friends,” Museveni said.
Earlier, President Kagame who was invited a special guest, told the gathering of Muhoozi’s friends, family and government officials that the general had helped restore the ties between the two countries.
“Sometimes, the greatest generals are the ones that win wars. The greatest generals are the ones that win the peace. Our relations are deep and tight. I am happy to be here after a priod of 4 or 5 years,” he said.
He added that when he (Muhoozi) called him after securing his direct line from his friends, he could not hesitate to accept to meet him.
“He told me he something to discuss with me. When I heard it was his voice, I had no doubt about the messager because of the nature of the messenger. I had to accept,” Kagame said.
He had that Uganda and Rwanda’s difficult relations were not insurmountable because the links between the two countries are strong and deep.
He said what is left of the process are the results to speak for themselves and was confident that Muhoozi would deliver on that.
On his part, Museveni revealed that Muhoozi, highly rumoured to be the heir apparent to the Ugandan leader who has rulled the country for 36 years, is a steadfast and uncompromising leader who he bvelieves has the nerve to fight corruption.
“I am very patient with corrupt people. But Muhoozi is very impatient. He will fight corruption,” Museveni said.
Uganda scored 27 points out of 100 on the 2021 Corruption Perceptions Index reported by Transparency International.
Kagame’s visit was his first visit to the country in four years as the relationship between the two East African nations improve following long-simmering tensions.
Gen Muhoozi has been instrumental in the rapprochement between the two neighbours playing a key role in repairing long hostile relations with Kigali, including holding talks with Kagame that led to a reopening of the land border in January after three years of closure.
Gen Muhooziwho also serves as a special presidential adviser, has previously referred to Gen Kagame as “my uncle” on Twitter.
“Those who fight him are fighting my family. They should all be careful,” he wrote in January.
Unstable ties
Al Jazeera reports that the visit comes weeks after Uganda announced the deportation of a leading figure belonging to the banned opposition group Rwanda National Congress (RNC), which Kigali considers a “terrorist” outfit. The reported presence on Ugandan soil of rebels seeking to topple Kagame has been a long-running sore in relations between the two neighbours.
Although the two men were close allies in the 1980s and 1990s, the two countries later fell out over mutual accusations of espionage, abductions and support for rebels.
The Uganda-Rwanda border was abruptly closed in 2019 as tensions spiralled, but was reopened in January this year in a major sign of warming ties.
Although Gen Muhoozi has repeatedly denied claims he intends to succeed his father, observers think otherwise.
The Guest List: