Did Twitter deactivate Muhoozi's account?
In this file photo taken on May 25, 2016 The son of Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni, Major General Muhoozi Kainerugaba attends a ceremony in which he was promoted from Brigadier to Major General at the country's military headquarters in Kampala on May 25, 2016. PHOTO/AFP
What you need to know:
- Even as many speculated that the account may have been deleted, it appears more likely that Uganda's heir apparent had deactivated his own account. Usually, Twitter indicates when it has suspended an account with the message "Account Suspended”. But in this case, the error message is "“this account doesn’t exist", which appears when a user has deactivated an account.
Did Twitter deactivate Uganda President Yoweri Museveni's son's account or did he pull it down himself? This is what many Ugandans on Twitter were wondering Tuesday when they noticed that Lt Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba's account had suddenly disappeared.
Even as many speculated that the account may have been deleted, it appears more likely that Uganda's heir apparent had deactivated his own account. Usually, Twitter indicates when it has suspended an account with the message "Account Suspended”. But in this case, the error message is "“this account doesn’t exist", which appears when a user has deactivated an account.
Aside from being the first son, Muhoozi not only holds a senior rank in Uganda's Army but has also been considered by analysts as a possible successor to his 75-year old father who's ruled the East African country for three and a half decades.
The missing Twitter account comes at a time Muhoozi, 47, had chosen to express his opinion - which at times proved controversial - to his half a million followers in a politically radical, confrontational, and antagonistic.
On January 16, 2022, for instance, he told off Rwandan President Paul Kagame’s adversaries stating, “This is my uncle, Afande Paul Kagame. Those who fight him are fighting my family. They should all be careful.”
Two months later, he sent out another provoking tweet that gave an ultimatum to the Turkana, a Kenyan community, that crosses over to northern Uganda in search of pastures for their cattle.
“As land forces, we are giving an ultimatum to the Turkana! They were partly responsible for the death of my soldiers (and our geologists) a few days ago! If they do not leave Uganda immediately they will get what they are looking for! We have warned them!”
Muhoozi has also expressed his support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine on the platform.
“The majority of mankind (that are non-white) support Russia’s stand in Ukraine. Putin is absolutely right.”
He also recently announced his resignation from the army even though he's continued to serve the military.
“After 28 years of service in my glorious military, the greatest military in the world, I'm happy to announce my retirement. I and my soldiers have achieved so much! I have only love and respect for all those great men and women that achieve greatness for Uganda every day.”
The disappearance of Muhoozi's account comes a year after President Museveni blocked Facebook in the aftermath of the hotly contested general elections in 2021.
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“That social channel you are talking about, if it is going to operate in Uganda, it should be used equitably by everybody who has to use it,” Museveni said.
The move to block Facebook came after the social media app deactivated accounts said to belong to people close to the regime.
