Uganda’s chief of Defence forces and son of President Yoweri Museveni General Muhoozi Kainerugaba has moved quickly to calm diplomatic tensions after reversing an earlier position that had shaken relations between Kampala and Washington.
The dramatic reversal on Friday following retraction of a series of controversial social media posts in which he announced the termination of military cooperation with the United States, issuing an apology and reaffirming that bilateral ties remain intact.
The remarks triggered concern among diplomats and observers, given the long-standing security partnership between Kampala and Washington.
In a follow-up tweet issued shortly after deleting the tweets on Jan 30th 2026 General Muhoozi now says he will reduce his interaction on X shifting focus to fasting and praying for his Country Uganda.
‘’Let it be known that after almost 11 years on Twitter/X and after amassing over 1.2 million followers.I intend to reduce my interactions here,I’m going back to fasting and praying for my country.With God’s healp I hope to write my autobiography.’
On Friday, Muhoozi said he had been misinformed when he accused the United States of supporting opposition leader Robert Kyagulanyi, popularly known as Bobi Wine, who has remained in hiding since the disputed January 15, 2026 presidential election.
“I want to apologise to our great friends, the United States, for my earlier tweets that I have now deleted. I was being fed with wrong information,” Muhoozi wrote on X.
“I have spoken with the U.S. Ambassador to our country, and everything is okay. We are going to continue our military cooperation as usual.”
Earlier, the army chief had claimed that the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) would suspend all cooperation with the U.S. administration, including joint operations in Somalia. In a now-deleted post, he alleged that Bobi Wine had “kidnapped himself” with the coordination of the U.S. Embassy.
Muhoozi later acknowledged the role played by Uganda’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Adonia Ayebare, in easing tensions.
However, in a statement by the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair shared on X on Saturday, January 31, 2026, the Chair, explained that Muhoozi had crossed a red line and demanded sanctions as well as a reassessment of the US security partnership with Uganda.
