President Museveni's son Muhoozi: My Nairobi invasion post was a joke

Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the leader of Ugandan army, is the son of President Yoweri Museveni. [Courtesy]

Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the son of Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni, says his Monday Twitter post on invading Kenya's capital Nairobi was a joke misconstrued as Uganda's attempts at breaching Kenya's sovereignty.

Muhoozi, the leader of Ugandan army, sparked anger on social media, when he said it won't take him two weeks to enter Kenya, capture Nairobi and make the city a part of Uganda's territory.

"It wouldn't take us, my army and me, two weeks to capture Nairobi," he said on Twitter, a post that attracted more than 6,000 retweets and 8,500 comments.

Muhoozi went ahead to suggest that he'd live in either Riverside or Westlands upon invading Nairobi.

Shortly after his tweets went up, Muhoozi's name shot to the summit of Twitter trends in both Kenya and Uganda.

Upon receiving backlash, from Kenyans and Ugandans, Muhoozi said his tweets were misconstrued, and that he was only joking on the micro-blogging site.

"I would never beat up the Kenyan army because my father (President Yoweri Museveni) told me never to attempt it. So, our people in Kenya should relax," he said in a Monday evening tweet.

The 48-year-old further chided Kenya for observing the rule of law and democracy, saying if former president, Uhuru Kenyatta, was a Ugandan, he'd have run for a third term against the dictates of the Constitution.

"I love my Kenyan relatives. Constitution? Rule of law? You must be joking. For us (in Uganda) there is only the revolution and you will soon learn about it," he said in a tweet that drew criticisms from former presidential candidates Kizza Besigye and Bobi Wine.

"Commander of Uganda's military (the land forces) says the Constitution and rule of law is a joke. No doubt kidnap and torture of Ugandans takes place publicly with impunity. Parliament, expectedly, can only lament. General Muhoozi is clearly above the military and State laws," said Kizza Besigye on Twitter.

Bobi Wine, on his part, said: "Dear Kenyans, you now understand what it means to live in Uganda under General Museveni and his son, whom he gifted the highest military rank and put him in charge of our land forces."

Who is Muhoozi Kainerugaba?

He was born in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania on April 24, 1974 to Yoweri Museveni and Janet Museveni.

Muhoozi, the first family's only son, attended schools in Tanzania, Kenya and Sweden.

He began recruiting students for the presidential guard as a fresh graduate.

Muhoozi enjoyed a swift rise through Uganda's army ranks, training at Britain's elite military academy, Sandhurst, as well as Egypt, the US and South Africa.

The president's son was first promoted to brigadier and put in charge of Uganda's powerful Special Forces Command, before his elevation to Major-General in 2016, at just 41 years old.

Muhoozi led Uganda's land forces while also serving as a high-profile presidential advisor on special operations, a role that extends to the political sphere.

Unlike his father, who adores public attention, Muhoozi prefers to keep a low profile, occasionally appearing at sports events or rare gatherings with friends.

However, the 48-year-old has not been shy about sharing his opinions on social media, and he even openly expressed his support for Russia after its invasion of Ukraine.

He has offered his views on everything, from Guinea's 2021 coup to the brutal war in northern Ethiopia, praising Tigrayan rebels for their "unconquerable spirit."

His controversial views, which he largely expresses on Twitter, have been defended by the military, which exercises huge power in Uganda, saying that Muhoozi was only exercising his personal rights.