The Kaguta dynasty and Museveni’s empty promises to Ugandans

In most history classes, students are introduced to different kingdoms and their achievements across generation. In Uganda, at every opportunity, President Yoweri Museveni is known to make consistent inferences to the Cwezi dynasty which many political commentators have concluded as a way of him preparing Ugandans for his intentions to entrench his own Kaguta dynasty.

The pattern in Museveni’s misrule is consistent for nearly four decades despite him preaching the opposite. For instance, in the early 1980s, he repetitively accused his predecessors of being dictators who were not servant of the Ugandan people as he made the case of his armed struggle in which thousands died.

Deceptively, Museveni was just trying to win the hearts of his compatriots to be given a chance to be a better protagonist in the creation of a new dynasty in the Republic of Uganda. Ugandans and the world alike saw it coming but did not give it the attention it deserved. The power hungry President never took too long before he revealed his oddity to his electorate. 

After ascending to the throne in 1986, he embarked on the journey of perfecting the exact vices he had fronted to justify the creation of his National Resistance Movement/Army. In fact, Museveni made it clear for Ugandans when confronted with the extent of his excessive regime when in 2017, he said at a public function that he is nobody’s servant, saying that he was only working for himself and his children and grandchildren.

This was perhaps the clearest indication that Museveni was keen on building his own dynasty other than delivering for the people of Uganda. Politically, Museveni has done more harm to his country than all his predecessors combined. The local political atmosphere continues to disintegrate in a worrying drift with the number of political prisoners and assassinations increasing. For Ugandans, being a political prisoner is the least of their concerns, the worst case scenario and the most probable one in current times is to be ‘eliminated’. 

To date, we have countless of army generals, politicians and ordinary Ugandans killed with all evidence pointing to the state, most precisely the commander in chief. Museveni’s political architecture has for the past three decades focused solely on grooming his son Muhoozi Kainerugaba to be his immediate replacement.

Anyone who has voiced concern over this so-called Muhoozi Project has at worst ended up dying mysteriously or sidelined and subjected to political witch-hunt. Examples are so many. Brig Nobel Mayombo, Gen James Kazini, Gen. Aronda Nyakairima, and most recently, Lt Gen Paul Lokech, to mention a few. All died under mysterious circumstances and the common denominator is their vehement opposition to the Muhoozi Project. 

And to hoodwink the people and making the matter worse, the commander-in-chief in-waiting spends much of his time not in securing the country’s territory as a General but by praising his father, grandfather, uncles and family at large. Lately, he is renowned for his haphazard, out of context tweets in which he brags about the prowess of the Ugandan military which he has claimed was the most capable army in Africa and the world. 

Funny but he does just that. If you have precious time to waste, visit his Twitter page. What the meteorically promoted General fails to understand is that the strength of an army is not measured by mere emotions after a night well spent with friends, nor is it measured by plain wishes. 

The strength of an army depends solely on how it is organized, the unity of purpose of its personnel, and its discipline, without forgetting the support it enjoys amongst the population. The UPDF, if evaluated through these simple indicators, the result would be frightening. Back to the Kaguta Dynasty, the President understood one crucial factor - that his dynasty could only be sustained by a solid war chest. This should now give you a clear picture of why the serious financial crimes committed by his family went scot-free for years until now. 

The Kaguta family owns the Ugandan state finances and only those who understand this will win a place in the Museveni government while all those who will try to stand in their way will pay a heavy price. As I conclude, I want to bring to your attention the open campaigns currently underway by a bevy of paid social media influencers who are trotting Muhoozi as the next President of Uganda.

These people are allowed to do so and continue to make such declarations in public functions well knowing that: one, Uganda is over four years away from an election, and two and most importantly, the person they are fronting is still a serving military General. Neither Muhoozi, the military leadership nor the commander in chief, who is also his father, has come up to dispel these declarations.

The fact that he is still an active serviceman who holds such an important office as the Commander of Land Forces makes it almost sacrilegious to be seen as wearing a political hat. Odd enough, precedent has been set. Several Generals have in the past been reprimanded, including Lt Gen Henry Tumukunde, in 2005, when as an MP, he voiced concerns over the lifting of term limits to set Museveni up for life presidency.

At the time, he was arrested and dragged through military courts for more than 10 years. My plea to Museveni is: it is never too late to get back on track. In this life, we come and go. But countries remain. The people still await to see what he promised them 35 years ago – a democratic and developed Uganda where the rule of law prevails and where equal opportunities are created for every Ugandan.

The quest of a dynasty is not a bad one. But it should not be created with or around the country’s administration. Museveni should create a clean business empire and have all his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren running it as they wish. That way, Ugandans won’t be irritated but will be happy for him.