Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has apologised to President William Ruto in a phone call and publicly to Kenyans through social media after his son's Twitter posts.
In a statement on Wednesday, Museveni said that he was sorry for Muhoozi Kainerugaba's meddling in the internal affairs of Kenya.
“I ask our Kenyan brothers and sisters to forgive us for tweets sent by General Muhoozi, former Commander of Land Forces, 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,” he said.
“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.”
On Monday, Kainerugaba claimed that he could lead the country’s military in an expansionist invasion of Kenya.
He claimed it would take him less than two weeks to capture the capital, Nairobi, and then treat the country as one of Ugandan districts.
“It wouldn’t take us, my army and I, two weeks to capture Nairobi,” he tweeted on his official account.
He also commented on the general election that saw Ruto declared winner, saying that he was disappointed the rule of law and constitutionalism were upheld.
Until Tuesday evening, Kainerugaba was a Lieutenant General and commander of the UPDF’s land forces.
He has since been promoted to a full general but relieved of command duties.
He however remains the senior presidential advisor on special military operations.
Museveni justified the promotion, saying that though the comments by his son were out of turn, it is only one aspect where he has acted negatively as a public officer.
“Why, then, promote him to full General after these comments? 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,” he said.
“I know for a fact that General Muhoozi is a passionate pan-Africanist. However, the correct method for PanAfricanists is confidential interactions or using the available fora (EAC and AU), especially if you are a public officer.”
The apology follows a litany of diplomatic manoeuvres between the two countries following the outburst.
Foreign Affairs CS nominee Alfred Mutua on Tuesday met the Uganda envoy Hassan Galiwango saying, they discussed interesting matters and that everything was okay.
Later in the day, Uganda’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement in which it said it does not conduct its foreign policy on social media, dismissing concerns of a possible invasion of Kenya.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs wishes to clarify that the government of Uganda does not conduct its foreign policy and other official business through social media nor does it depend on social media sources in dealing with sovereign governments,” the statement read.
“The ministry said the country shared a brotherly relationship with Kenya, based on our shared history, common values, mutual respect, trust and the desire to build a unified East African Community.”
Edited by Kiilu Damaris
