• Museveni said Uganda has a history of overlooking the negative attributes of people who have proven track records in their fields of operation.
• "Our method is to heal the patient, not to kill you. This is our long term method which we have used for a long time for everybody not just for ourselves," he said.
Image: BBC
Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni has yet again defended his son Muhoozi Kainerugaba over his erratic tweets that nearly caused a diplomatic tiff with Kenya.
Museveni said whereas his son made a mistake, he could not reprimand him because of his good contribution in the military and stellar performance as an army commander.
"He is a very good officer in army things, many of the armies are killed because of corruption, poor training and so on...so if somebody is good at something but makes a mistake at something, how do you deal?" he posed.
In an Interview with KTN that aired on Sunday night, Museveni said no one is perfect and as a leader, he does not focus on people's mistakes.
"From our long experience, not only for Muhoozi, you may not get people 100 per cent correct. So, if he has got 10 per cent mistake, 20 per cent mistake, but 80 per cent contribution, this is how you manage it," Museveni said.
In a series of tweets on October 3, Muhoozi threatened to invade Kenya and capture the capital Nairobi in two weeks' time.
"It wouldn't take us, my army and me, 2 weeks to capture Nairobi," he said.
He later retracted the statement and said he was just joking and apologised to President William Ruto.
"I have never had any problem with Afande Ruto. If I made a mistake anywhere, I ask him to forgive me as his young brother. God bless East Africa!" he tweeted on October 13.
During the interview, Museveni was asked why he still promoted Muhoozi to a full General even after the cryptic tweets which threatened to tear diplomatic links with Kenya.
He was told Muhoozi's pronouncements are not a mundane issue and should not be treated as such since they threatened the sovereignty of a country.
The interviewer cited tweets by former US President Donald Trump which led to the January 6, 2021 Capitol riots that caused deaths.
But Museveni said Uganda has a history of overlooking the negative attributes of people who have proven track records in their fields of operation.
"Our method is to heal the patient, not to kill you. This is our long term method which we have used for a long time for everybody not just for ourselves," he said.
He said there are officers in the army who are drunkards but very good fighters on the front line.
"You may find that when you go to fight you don't go with priests. You find that you tell this man stop drinking, stop drinking and he doesn't stop but you find that when it comes to fighting, he is the one who does the work," Museveni said.
"The one who looks polite is hiding somewhere behind trying to distribute maize flour and so on, fearing to fight," he added.
The President, who has ruled Uganda for 36 years, said he has been using this method of leadership for over 50 years.
"Suppress the negatives, encourage the positives," he said, while dismissing fears that his son's behaviour would have caused a diplomatic rift between Uganda and Kenya.