Open letter: Gen Muhoozi constitutionalise your journey to State House

Muhoozi salutes his father Museveni at Entebbe airport

A well-wisher’s warning about the presidency you seek

General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, you have made no secret of your ambition to become President of Uganda in 2031.

There is nothing inherently wrong with aspiring to the highest elective office. The Constitution does not prescribe who may dream of becoming president. The question is how that ambition is pursued.

That question becomes unavoidable when the serving Commander of the Defence Forces is simultaneously at the centre of vigorous political mobilisation around his presidential ambitions.

The combination of military authority and political mobilisation raises a constitutional question that should concern you: what kind of presidency will you inherit if the road to State House is itself contested as manifestly unconstitutional?

You should address that question now—not after an election.

General, give yourself a clean political beginning

Article 208 of the Constitution requires the UPDF to be non-partisan and subordinate to civilian authority. The UPDF Act also regulates the participation of serving officers in elective politics.

These provisions do not prevent soldiers from having political aspirations; they exist to prevent military authority from becoming a tool for acquiring political power. That distinction matters to your political journey.

The debate over whether the Patriotic League of Uganda (PLU) is a political party, civic organisation or pressure group misses the larger constitutional question: should the serving commander of the armed forces simultaneously remain at the head of the military while vigorous political mobilisation to advance his presidential ambitions is in full gear?

There is a simple way to remove that constitutional shadow: leave the military and enter civilian politics.

If you believe Ugandans want you to lead them, give them the opportunity to make that choice without the complication of military command. Build your political movement openly. Defend your policies. Answer your critics. Do not arrest or harass them. Campaign for votes. Let the electorate decide.

That would not weaken your ambition. It would constitutionalise it. It would also protect you from the accusation that military authority was used to acquire political power.

For someone presenting himself as a reformer and anti-corruption crusader, it would be unfortunate for misuse or abuse of public office to become one of the accusations accompanying his presidential journey.

General, do not turn succession into inheritance

Uganda is not a monarchy. There is no constitutional crown prince. The presidency is not a family inheritance. When institutions capable of mediating political competition become weak, competition does not disappear.

It migrates—to families, factions, security networks and informal centres of power. That is precisely what constitutional democracy is supposed to prevent.

Remember the distinction: an heir inherits; a candidate persuades. An heir awaits succession; a candidate seeks a mandate. An heir is selected by those who control the throne; a candidate is chosen by voters.

Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba with UPDF soldiers

If you believe you should become President, therefore, become a candidate—not an heir apparent. Do not allow apparent popularity to become a substitute for constitutionalism. Test that popularity in the only forum that matters: a free and competitive election.

If you win in 2031 after remaining at the head of the military while a political organisation mobilises around your succession, your opponents will inevitably argue that the election merely ratified a succession process constructed through military and state power.

Why carry that avoidable burden into State House?

General, do not mistake institutional failure for democratic rejection

You may be told that Ugandans have become so frustrated with civilian politics that they now prefer military or authoritarian solutions. The evidence does not support that conclusion.

Afrobarometer’s recent findings show that 73% of Ugandans still prefer democracy to any other form of government. 70% say many political parties are necessary to give citizens real choices; 86% reject dictatorship, 75% reject military rule and 63% reject one-party rule. Most importantly, 83% prefer choosing leaders through regular, open and fair elections.

Ugandans can therefore be deeply dissatisfied with the way democracy operates and still want democracy. They may distrust politicians, question the credibility of elections and complain about violence, intimidation, corruption and patronage. But dissatisfaction with the practice of democracy is not rejection of democracy.

The World Justice Project’s 2025 Rule of Law Index provides another warning. Uganda ranked 127th out of 143 countries worldwide and 28th of 34 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, with its rule-of-law score declining by 1%.

The WJP identifies authoritarian trends, weakened checks and balances, shrinking civic space and declining constraints on government power among the principal drivers of the global deterioration.

So, General, if Ugandans are frustrated with political parties, strengthen civilian politics—not military politics. If they distrust elections, make elections more credible—not less competitive. If they are angry about corruption and patronage, strengthen accountability rather than creating centres of power beyond effective scrutiny.

The answer to institutional failure should be institutional repair.

General, Uganda’s military role makes this even more important

Uganda’s growing importance as a regional security actor makes the distinction between military professionalism and political mobilisation particularly important.

Uganda is deeply involved in regional security operations, while its military partnerships increasingly extend beyond East Africa. On 6 August 2026, Parliament approved the proposed deployment of about 1,200 UPDF personnel to the US-led Gaza stabilisation force.

Uganda’s strategic usefulness naturally attracts external partnerships. But strategic usefulness can incentivise external partners to place security cooperation ahead of sustained concern about domestic political arrangements.

That makes constitutional safeguards even more important. They must ultimately be respected and defended by Ugandans at home. The more strategically important Uganda’s military becomes abroad, the more important its political neutrality becomes at home.

General, think about the African example you want to leave

You have frequently presented your political project in pan-African terms. That makes the manner of Uganda’s succession relevant beyond Uganda.

Across Africa, succession remains one of the continent’s great constitutional vulnerabilities. Chad after Idriss Déby and the dynastic politics of Equatorial Guinea demonstrate the danger of confusing continuity of power with legitimacy of succession.

Uganda is not Chad or Equatorial Guinea. Its constitutional history is different. That is precisely why you should aspire to demonstrate something better.

The 1995 Constitution was intended, among other things, to move Uganda away from the idea that military power should be the vehicle through which political power is acquired or transferred.

You can make an important African statement by doing the opposite of that old pattern: leave the military, enter civilian politics and submit yourself fully to the rules governing everyone else.

If you win, you should be able to say that you became President because Ugandans voted for you—not because a succession system was arranged around you.

General, protect the presidency you seek

President Museveni is entitled, as a citizen and father, to support your political ambitions. The NRM is entitled to choose its preferred candidate. You are entitled to aspire to the presidency.

But none of those rights displaces the Constitution.

A presidential election is not a coronation. It is a choice.

If Ugandans want you to become President, let them make that choice freely and openly. Give them a candidate who has stepped out of military command, entered civilian politics and accepted the risks and disciplines of democratic competition.

Reports and allegations of abductions, arbitrary arrests and detention in ungazetted places popularly described as “basements” only deepen public anxiety about the direction of political competition. You should want to win confidence through persuasion, not fear.

General, you do not have to abandon your ambition.

Constitutionalise the journey to it.

Retire or resign from the military. Enter civilian politics. Build openly. Defend your record. Answer your critics. Persuade Ugandans. Compete for their votes.

If they choose you, you will enter State House with something no military structure, political endorsement or manufactured momentum can provide:

constitutional legitimacy.

And Uganda will have demonstrated that succession in Africa need not mean inheritance, militarisation or dynastic certainty.

It can mean what the Constitution promises:

The free ballot.

The writer is a senior advocate of the High Court of Uganda, former Member of Parliament and former Minister.

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