Uganda’s Military Chief Retracts Claims Against U.S. Embassy, Deletes Controversial Posts
Uganda’s Chief of Defence Forces, Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, has deleted a series of social media posts in which he accused the United States Embassy in Kampala of facilitating the alleged escape of opposition figure Robert Kyagulanyi, known as Bobi Wine. The posts sparked a diplomatic stir before being retracted.
In the now-deleted statements on X (formerly Twitter), Gen. Muhoozi alleged that “unimaginative bureaucrats” at the U.S. Embassy had undermined Uganda-U.S. security cooperation for nearly a decade. He further claimed that an opposition leader had “kidnapped himself” and disappeared with the coordination of the embassy’s administration.
Based on these assertions, the General announced the suspension of all military cooperation between the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) and the U.S. Embassy, including joint efforts in Somalia—a critical regional security partnership.
The allegations prompted widespread concern online regarding the potential impact on long-standing diplomatic and counterterrorism ties between the two nations.
However, Gen. Muhoozi later reversed his position, clarifying that the claims were based on faulty intelligence. He stated he had spoken directly with the U.S. Ambassador to Uganda and confirmed that “everything is okay,” assuring that military cooperation would continue as usual.
The matter was formally closed by Uganda’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Adonia Ayebare, who confirmed on social media that the contentious tweet was deleted and that Gen. Muhoozi had apologized, adding a definitive.
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