In Uganda’s military, even senior generals are finding that their rank offers little protection from the wrath of the country’s powerful army chief. Over the past 15 months, at least a dozen generals and senior officers have been arrested under Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, who is also the son of President Yoweri Museveni, in a crackdown that has unsettled the military’s top ranks. The arrests come amid growing political tensions over who will succeed Museveni, who has ruled Uganda for four decades. Gen Kainerugaba, 52, is widely seen as a potential successor, although his ambitions appear to be facing resistance within the ruling party.
This week, he threatened Vice-President Jessica Alupo with dismissal and possible arrest, while suggesting he should take her position. The ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) has, however, rejected reports that its senior leadership had rejected a proposal to back Gen Kainerugaba as the next president, describing the claims as “completely false”. This has all fuelled speculation that the arrests are part of an effort to sideline military officers opposed to the general’s presidential ambitions. Others see the arrests as evidence of an anti-corruption drive in which senior commanders are held to account.
At the centre of the tension are two powerful powerful institutions: the military, where Gen Kainerugaba wields considerable influence, and the NRM, where questions about his political ambitions appear to be dividing senior figures. A recent meeting of NRM’s top leadership ended without agreement on a proposal to position Gen Kainerugaba as Museveni’s successor, according to the AFP news agency. Five party sources who attended the closed-door meeting told AFP that a vote was abandoned after several members spoke against the proposal. Uganda’s news website ChimpReports, however, said that most members who spoke backed the general’s potential presidency, although some questioned his readiness for civilian leadership.
In a statement on Thursday, NRM Secretary General Richard Todwong Awany confirmed that the party had met on 10 November to discuss “political, social and economic issues”. He dismissed reports that the meeting had rejected a proposal to position Gen Kainerugaba as Uganda’s next president, saying the party would communicate any decisions “through the right channel, at the right time”. Dr Gerald Bareebe, a Ugandan-born political scientist at Canada’s York University, sees a connection between the arrests and political manoeuvring over Museveni’s succession, often referred to as the “Muhoozi Project”. “Senior officers believed not to support the project have been arrested, detained or charged with corruption and treason,” he tells the BBC.
He says the allegations against some officers were widely viewed as politically motivated, reflecting growing divisions within the military over the succession question. Some of those detained have since been released, apparently after securing the general’s forgiveness. The detention of one of the country’s most prominent former commanders, Lt Gen Peter Elwelu, has brought the crackdown into sharper focus. The former deputy army chief was detained on 2 November over allegations that he had plotted to destabilise the eastern Teso region.
His fall from grace followed a series of social media posts by Kainerugaba, who accused him of treachery and announced that he had been stripped of his three-star rank and demoted. “The traitor Peter Elwelu is hereby stripped of his ranks. He is demoted to Private,” Kainerugaba wrote on X. He also claimed that more than 20 soldiers linked to Elwelu had been arrested.
The announcement raised legal questions, with Ugandan media reporting that military regulations do not allow a senior officer to be stripped of his rank through a social media post. The army later confirmed Elwelu’s detention, saying they had recovered 15 guns, military uniforms and two pickup trucks linked to him. His family has rejected the allegations. Elwelu is among at least a dozen generals and senior officers detained since April 2025, according to an investigation by Uganda’s Daily Monitor newspaper.
They include three former military intelligence chiefs who once oversaw some of Uganda’s most sensitive security operations. This army chief threatened to castrate opposition leader and claimed descent from Jesus The ‘shadow army’ helping Uganda’s long-serving president keep an iron grip on power The Ugandan general who lobs grenades on Twitter Maj Gen James Birungi, a former head of defence intelligence and security, was arrested in August 2025, on allegations including treason, terrorism and corruption. He was charged before a military court but later released after Gen Kainerugaba announced that he had “forgiven” him. Another former intelligence chief, Maj Gen Abel Kandiho, was detained in September this year over allegations of providing false intelligence and treachery.
He remains in detention, according to the Daily Monitor. His predecessor, Brig-Gen Charles Bakahumura, was also arrested in September over similar allegations, but was later released after the army chief announced that he had forgiven him. Other officers have faced accusations ranging from stealing military fuel to taking money to spy on military communications. The military has defended the arrests as part of efforts to tackle corruption and criminality within the armed forces.
Ugandan security analyst Freddie David Egesa says the arrests reflect investigations involving different security agencies, rather than an army-led purge. He argues that detaining senior officers helps protect witnesses and demonstrates the seriousness of the anti-corruption drive. “Gen Muhoozi has the overall duty to permit the investigation team to arrest these high-profile people, in consultation with the commander-in-chief,” Egesa says, adding: “The arrests are not summarily done.” But Bareebe sees a wider political motive, arguing that officers suspected of opposing to Gen Kainerugaba’s presidential ambitions are being targeted. “The result is a broad purge that has affected both serving and retired officers perceived to be anti-Muhoozi,” he says.
He points to divisions between the elite Special Forces Command (SFC), which he says is largely loyal to the president’s son, and army commanders who remain unconvinced about his succession. The allegations against the officers are at different stages, with some facing charges, others in detention without publicly announced charges, and several having been released. Bareebe also questions whether military trials can deliver independent proceedings. “Many Ugandans regard the charges as politically motivated and therefore expect little justice,” he adds.
He alleges that some officers have had charges dropped after closed-door negotiations with the president and his son, during which they were pressured to declare support for Gen Kainerugaba. Government spokesperson Allan Kasujja dismissed the claims of a succession fallout as “hogwash”. Unlike his predecessors, who communicated through official military channels, Gen Kainerugaba frequently uses X to announce arrests, criticise public officials and comment on domestic and international affairs. Some have sparked diplomatic controversy.
On the night of 9 November, he turned his attention to Vice-President Jessica Alupo, demanding to take her job. “Whoever is in that office should prepare to hand it over soon,” he wrote, in posts that he later deleted. He also questioned Alupo’s loyalty and threatened her dismissal, adding that the government would operate “on military terms”, if he became his father’s deputy. The following day, his X account, which had nearly 1.4 million followers, became inaccessible.
It was unclear whether he deactivated it himself, which he has done before, or the platform had suspended it. Alupo remains in office and has yet to respond publicly. Egesa says Gen Kainerugaba’s controversial posts reflect his preferred style of communicating, but adds that security analysts are assessing their implications for Uganda’s political and military stability. Bareebe, however, sees them as part of a broader effort by the army chief to extend his influence into civilian politics.
He says the public confrontation with senior political figures illustrates how the succession debate was spilling beyond the army and into the ruling party. Gen Kainerugaba was appointed army chief in March 2024, after previously commanding the SFC, which is responsible for protecting the president and strategic installations. Under Uganda’s military structure, he reports directly to Museveni, giving him considerable influence over the army. Bareebe argues that the SFC’s loyalty to the president and his son could prove crucial in any future transfer of power.
“The regular army remains important but has been sidelined by the SFC, which now functions as a personal army for Museveni and his son,” he adds. At the heart of the tension is the question of who will succeed Museveni, 82, who has ruled Uganda since 1986, when his rebel National Resistance Army seized power after a five-year guerrilla war. He was sworn in for a seventh elected presidential term earlier this year, extending his rule into a fifth decade. Gen Kainerugaba has been regarded as a possible successor and has indicated that he intends to seek the presidency in 2031, when his father’s current term is due to end.
He also leads the Patriotic League of Uganda, a political movement that has mobilised support around his leadership. But recent developments suggest that a transfer of power from father to son may be more complicated than his supporters anticipated. At the recent meeting of the NRM leadership, one official reportedly urged Museveni to retire his son from the military and give him a civilian role to gain administrative experience, AFP reported. Local media reported that some party officials consider Gen Salim Saleh, Museveni’s younger brother, better suited for civilian leadership.
There is, however, no indication that he is interested in becoming president. Others reportedly defended Gen Kainerugaba, pointing to his military leadership, anti-corruption campaign and grassroots political mobilisation. Bareebe says opposition to the proposed succession has grown within the NRM, with both veteran figures and younger members concerned about what they see as an attempt to secure power through coercion. He suggests Museveni’s reluctance to move his son out of the military could reflect the importance of retaining control of the army during any transition.
“The underlying calculation appears to be that, so long as Muhoozi controls the SFC, he can use it to capture power even in an event of a contested transition,” he says. The military has been central to Museveni’s hold on power, making the loyalties of senior commanders particularly important as succession questions intensify. The family’s military influence has also drawn attention to the possibility of a political dynasty spanning generations, with Gen Kainerugaba’s son, Ruhamya, recently graduating from Britain’s Sandhurst military academy. The succession debate is unfolding against a backdrop of sustained pressure on the opposition.
Veteran opposition politician Kizza Besigye remains in detention on treason charges, which he denies. Bobi Wine, who came second to Museveni in this year’s presidential election, has gone into exile in the US, after being threatened by Gen Kainerugaba. The government has consistently defended its security operations as lawful and necessary to maintain stability. For now, Museveni remains in power.
But the arrests, his son’s threats and competing accounts of divisions within the ruling party have intensified questions about how Uganda’s next political transition might unfold, and what role his family may play. He once criticised African leaders who cling to power. Now he’s won a seventh term Are East African governments uniting to silence dissent? Ugandan designer ‘depressed’ after dreadlocks cut in jail Go to BBCAfrica.com, external for more news from the African continent. frica, external or on Instagram at bbcafrica, external
