After reactivating his twitter handle, the Ugandan commander of the land forces and Senior Presidential Advisor- Special Operations, Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, has announced that Rwandan President Paul Kagame is attending his 48th birthday anniversary celebrations on April 24, this month.
He has also revealed that the President Kagame has sent through ten cows he promised him during his second visit to Kigali early this month.
President Kagame last attended Muhoozi’s social function in 1998 when he wedded his wife Charlotte Muhoozi.
Muhoozi is credited for reconstructing the icy relations between Uganda and Rwanda whose efforts have seen both countries warm up to each other including Rwanda reopening its border with Uganda.
Kagame’s visit will be the first in almost four years when the relations between him and President Yoweri Museveni went south.
Why is President Kagame returning to Uganda after nearly four years? We return to this question later.
Return to Twitter:
Last week, our TOP SECRETS desk reported that Speculation swarmed the micro blogging app, Twitter, in Uganda following the sudden disappearance of his popular handle @mkainerugaba from the twitter space.
Gen Muhoozi, who is also the Senior Presidential Advisor on Special Operations and son of the Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, had been known to send controversial tweets and the account had grown exponentially in the upwards of a half a million followers.
The General is also known to constantly engage with his followers, sometimes in controversial debates about the country’s politics and social life. His army of followers have been calling and encouraging him to prepare to succeed his father in what has come to be known as the ‘Muhoozi Project.’
While the handle disappeared so suddenly, his last tweet sent waves of speculation amongst his followers who suspected foul play on the micro blogging company, alleging his account had been suspended for possible violation of twitter community rules orchestrated by his rivals.
The controversial tweet which has sparked off the speculations reads:
To all revolutionaries, all fighters for truth, justice and an egalitarian world! I hear that some of us small voices for the billions of voiceless have been targeted by Big Tech for silencing. No worries! The undeniable truth of the oppressed masses shall always win,” he tweeted on April 11, 2022 at exactly 2:51 am, Ugandan time.
However, the tweet returned on the eve of Easter and the general explained he had reactivated it after making careful considerations.
The Politics in the Birthday Bash
In the same vein he announced that Rwanda President would attend his birthday slated for April 24th, this week at a private ceremony in State House
“I am very happy to announce that my uncle, the very great Commander, President and Leader of Rwanda will be attending my birthday celebration. Ruhanga asiimwe! Inkotanyi cyane indeed,” he announced in this tweet
He added: “Thank you very much President
@PaulKagame for accepting this invitation. This is going to be the biggest party of the year,” he said in another tweet.
He further announced that the main birthday party will be after April 24th at a date and time to be announced by Chairman @KiryowaKk (Attorney General Kiryowa Kiwanuka).
He said the main birthday party had been shifted to a date beyond April 24th because of a pre- birthday party trans night dance (known locally as ‘Kasiki’) which has been organised by ‘Friends of MK’ under Mr. Nuwagira Michael (Toyota). Toyota is Gen Muhoozi’s paternal uncle.
The annual birthday bash which sprung into the limelight in 2018, is slowly gravitating into an annual VIP get-together
“Lieutenant General Muhoozi Kainerugaba is in the full swing of his birthday preparations, an event that over the years has come to serve as a valuable snapshot of the Ugandan political landscape,” writes the influential Africa Intelligence Magazine.
Informed sources reveal the general is looking at these annual bashes as a springboard into the possible future political career and creating a top of the mind presence amongst friends and foe.
Why Gen Kagame is attending the bash
Increasingly, Lieutenant General Muhoozi Kainerugaba’s influence in the two Ugandan leaders’ relations has become a signature act that might see the two countries resume full blown diplomatic relations.
At the heart of these overtures, is a move by the two countries to join efforts in pacifying the Eastern DRC which cooperation is badly needed to allow the Ugandan army provide total protection to the road construction activities currently supported by both Uganda and DRC. Rwanda’s cooperation is much needed for UPDF to secure the southern flank of the road projects up to the Goma, through Bunagana and Rutshuru. These two important transit points for Ugandan goods into the DRC were the scenes of this month’s clashes between the DRC army and the rebel M23 militants believed to have the support of both Uganda and Rwanda, though both countries’ deny these claims.
Informed sources say the Ugandan road construction company Dott Services ltd which is currently implementing the joint roads project is making slow but calculated progress due to security concerns.
Rwanda too has raised its own security concerns with both Uganda and DRC through underground diplomatic rapprochement.
In an interview with this website last month, Gen Muhoozi hinted at the possibility of both Ugandan and Rwandan forces joining forces in the East of the country. President Kagame’s visit on the heels of another engagement between the Ugandan and DRC army top brass late this week is instructive, pregnant with meaning and a masterstroke by Gen Muhoozi in getting the two brotherly armies work together to bring total peace to Eastern DRC, a country which has just joined the East Africa Community bloc.