Upon breaking of Muhoozi’s retirement story, a number of political players have come out to share their opinions on this act. Barely a week after Muhoozi Kainerugaba had declared his presidential bid, he came out today with a statement informing the public about his retirement from the Uganda army.
The Kampala Lord Mayor Elias Lukwago has attributed his retirement to the United States of America pressure that rose after Muhoozi’s statements about the Russian-Ukraine war. “The majority of mankind (that are non-white) support Russia’s stand in Ukraine. Putin is absolutely right! When the USSR parked nuclear-armed missiles in Cuba in 1962 the West was ready to blow up the world over it. Now when NATO does the same they expect Russia to do differently?”; said Muhoozi via his official Twitter account.
The west has been influencing a number of sanctions against Russia with expectations that the rest of the world would rally behind them. In the United Nations vote about the Russia-Ukraine war; Uganda voted neutral. But with a non-neutral statement from the commander of Uganda land forces Muhoozi Kainerugaba who was in support of Russia; it seems like his retirement might have been one of the ways to keep in good books of the USA.
Resignations and reshuffles have been a common response in Uganda whenever foreign criticisms arise. Of recent, the former chief of Military intelligence underwent two reshuffles in a span of one month shortly after receiving sanctions from the United States of America. With such a background; it remains unclear whether Muhoozi’s retirement was an official step towards his presidential bid or it is a goodwill gesture to distance himself from his Russia support tweets.