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Gen Muhoozi retreats after offensive tweet on Bobi Wine
First son, Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba. PHOTO/FILE.
What you need to know:
- Gen Muhoozi, the First Son and a serving military officer, first accused Bobi Wine of wearing red attire, saying he was trying to be a soldier with absolutely no training.
Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the commander of the Special Forces, started an offensive on Twitter against National Unity Platform (NUP) party presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi, alias Bobi Wine, promising to defeat him in the 2021 General Election.
Gen Muhoozi, the First Son and a serving military officer, first accused Bobi Wine of wearing red attire, saying he was trying to be a soldier with absolutely no training.
“Someone tell this young brother of mine that we are going to beat him very badly in the polls,” Gen Muhoozi tweeted at 6.40pm on Wednesday.
He was responding to journalist Andrew Mwenda’s comment about the manner in which security agencies arrested Bobi Wine in Kalangala District where he had gone to campaign and flew him back to Kampala on Wednesday.
In another tweet, Gen Muhoozi shared a photograph of Bobi Wine seated on a stool with a spear.
He then fired: “Ngu ‘Musinguzi’? Mbwenu ogu akasingura ki? (meaning: The so-called winner? What has he ever won/ accomplished?) This is an insult not only against Banyankole but against all the tribes of western Uganda.”
Bobi Wine was given the name Musinguzi while campaigning in Mbarara District in western Uganda last month.
Gen Muhoozi’s tweet sparked angry responses on social media, with some people accusing him of promoting tribalism and being a partisan army officer.
By nightfall, Gen Muhoozi had retreated and deleted the tweets.
However, screen shots of his comments had been taken and were shared all over the internet, triggering further debate on tribalism.
Yesterday, a hashtag #SayNoToTribalism was also established. The hashtag, which condemns tribalism, has since been trending on social media platforms.
Hours later, Bobi Wine described the First Son’s comments as an embarrassment to men and women in uniform.
“One more thing, the Banyankole did not just give me the name Musinguzi, they gave me their daughter (Barbie Itungo Kyagulanyi), my wife, and that means I am their son. They are not as hateful and as tribalistic as you are. Stop misrepresenting my in-laws,” Bobi Wine tweeted back.
When Bobi Wine announced that he would run for president, Gen Muhoozi said he was still an amateur and claimed he could help the Opposition leader learn politics.
Army and politics
In 2013, Gen Henry Tumukunde was convicted and sentenced to a warning for flouting the army code of conduct after he commented about President Museveni’s long stay in power.
