Muhoozi Breaks Silence on Calls to Stand for President

SFC Commander, Brig Muhoozi Kainerugaba with some of the commandos passed out recently to take on Al Shabaab in Somalia[/caption] Special Forces Commander, Brig Muhoozi Kainerugaba has for the first time spoken out extensively on his future plans and growing calls from the youth to stand for President in 2021. Brig. Muhoozi said in a statement sent exclusively to Chimpreports that while he fully appreciates the support of the youth, he does not see himself participate in political activities “for the foreseeable future.” The Commander of the elite force, which guards the President and also conducts specialised military operations, rarely speaks to the media. However, Muhoozi’s response was triggered by youth calling themselves Why Not Youth Pressure Group (WNPG), saying they are campaigning for him to become president in 2021. On Friday, October 17, WNPG held its first seminar at Makerere University where police boss Gen Kale Kayihura gave a lecture on “The role of the youths in crime prevention and the fight against terror.” Youth were seen carrying placards, appealing to Muhoozi to contest for the highestpolitical position in the land. At a rugby match in Kampala in 2010, hundreds of youth urged him to stand for president, saying he would fully attend to their challenges such as unemployment. On Monday evening, Brig. Muhoozi said in statement signed by the Special Forces Spokesperson, Maj Chris Magezi that he “wishes to unequivocally state that he has no knowledge about that group of youth and what they claim to represent.” Magezi said Brig Muhoozi “has never met or interacted with any of them (youth) and therefore the views and opinions they have been propagating are solely their own.” Nevertheless, Muhoozi expressed gratitude to the youth for showing trust in him as their potential leader. Support “However if these youth groups are merely fans of Brig. Muhoozi, then he deeply appreciates their support and feels honoured by their confidence in him,” said Magezi.. “The youth groups are discussing political issues, which as civilians they are entitled to but Brig. Muhoozi has no intention to enter political activity for the foreseeable future.” Magezi said as Muhoozi has “stated on several occasions when he is no longer a serving soldier in the UPDF he will make his decision about serving his country in other fields.” He added: “Until then all groups that purport to represent him or his intentions should be viewed with some scepticism.” Observers say while Muhoozi does not see himself engage in politics in the near future, he intends to avoid demoralising the youth who feel he should lead them. The youth form a big electorate bloc in Uganda. Statistics indicate that 21.3 percent (6.5 million people) of the total population of Uganda are the youth. By 2021, the figure is expected to have risen higher. Who is Muhoozi? Brig. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the Commander Special Forces Command (CSFC, UPDF). He is highly trained, having attended training in Uganda, Egypt, South Africa, UK and the USA. The CSFC is responsible for the command, control and administration of UPDF Special Forces, he reports directly to the Chief of Defense Forces (CDF) and to the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Gen. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni. Brigadier Muhoozi  was born in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania on 24th of April 1974 to Yoweri Museveni and Janet Museveni. He was the first of four children. As a child, Muhoozi  attended schools in Tanzania, Kenya, and Sweden. After his father became President of Uganda, he attended schools like Kampala Parents School, King’s College Budo and St. Mary’s College Kisubi, which is located approximately half way between Kampala and Entebbe. He graduated from St. Mary’s College Kisubi in 1994. Muhoozi  did his university education at Nottingham University in the United Kingdom; he graduated with a Bachelor of Politics degree in 1997. He started military training in 1994 after he left high school; he formally joined the UPDF in 1999. That year, he married Charlotte Kutesa and soon after, was admitted to the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, graduating in 2000. In 2002 he went to train at the Egyptian Infantry School where he attended both the Company and Battalion Commanders courses. Officials say Muhoozi has been instrumental in promoting the welfare of troops in the Special Forces through the Wazalendo SACCO and other income generating projects. He attended the Kalama Armored Warfare Training School (in 2001 and again in 2005). Kalama Armored Warfare Training School is located in the Kabamba Cantonment, Mubende District. In 2007, he was admitted to a one-year course at the United States Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He graduated in June of 2008. He then went to undergo the US Army’s grueling Airborne course at Fort Benning, Georgia, which he successfully completed. In 2012, he attended and successfully completed the six months Executive National Security Program (ENSP) at the South African National Defense College, located in Thaba Tshwane near Pretoria. Upon his successful completion of the Officer Cadet Course at Sandhurst in 2000, Brigadier Muhoozi was commissioned to the rank of Second Lieutenant and assigned to the Presidential Protection Unit. In 2003, he was promoted to the rank of Major. As a Major, he became a Commanding Officer of the Motorized Infantry Unit within the Presidential Guard Brigade. Following his graduation from Fort Leavenworth in 2008, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and tasked by the UPDF High Command to study the organization, training and equipping of modern Special Forces, this was in order to avail the Commander-in-Chief and other senior decision makers in the UPDF with the necessary information they would need to set up such an organization. In February of 2010, he was appointed the Commander of the Special Forces Group (which was formed out of the former Presidential Guards Brigade and 1 Commando Battalion). In 2012, the Special Forces Group was expanded into a Special Forces Command. Brigadier Muhoozi has participated in and led a whole host of operations from counter-insurgency actions against the Lord’s Resistance Army in northern Uganda and Teso in the early 2000s to Peace Support Operations in Somalia. He was recently one of the key commanders involved in the planning and execution of Operation Kalongero (the UPDF’s effort to stabilize the volatile situation in South Sudan after fighting broke out in Juba on December 15th -16th 2013). Magezi said he has been very active in promoting welfare and income generating projects for Special Forces operators and their families. This has mainly involved improving accommodation facilities, constructing new training and health infrastructure and supporting existing projects meant to generate revenues for the welfare of Special Forces personnel. Brigadier Muhoozi is married to Charlotte Nankunda Kutesa and they have been blessed with three children. *Source chimpreports]]>