Uganda’s army chief, Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, has overseen the arrest of at least a dozen generals and senior officers over the past 15 months, in a crackdown that has unsettled the military’s top ranks as tensions grow over who will succeed his father, President Yoweri Museveni.
Gen Kainerugaba, 52, the president’s eldest son, was appointed chief of defence forces in March 2024 and is widely seen as his father’s heir apparent. Mr Museveni, 82, has ruled Uganda since 1986 and was sworn in for a seventh elected presidential term earlier this year. The general has said he intends to seek the presidency in 2031, when his father’s current term ends, and leads the Patriotic League of Uganda, a movement mobilising support around his leadership.
The detention that has brought the crackdown into sharpest focus is that of Lt Gen Peter Elwelu, a former deputy army chief. He was detained on 2 November over allegations that he plotted to destabilise the eastern Teso region. Military spokesmen said investigators seized military uniforms, two pickup trucks and 15 firearms linked to him — charges his family rejects. The allegations have not been established in court.
He is far from the only senior casualty. Maj Gen James Birungi, a former chief of defence intelligence and security, was arrested in August 2025 on allegations including treason, terrorism and corruption. Maj Gen Abel Kandiho, a former military intelligence chief, was detained in September this year over allegations of providing false intelligence and treachery, and his predecessor, Brig-Gen Charles Bakahumura, was arrested the same month on similar allegations.
On the night of 9 November, Gen Kainerugaba turned his attention to the civilian leadership, using social media to threaten Vice-President Jessica Alupo with dismissal and possible arrest while demanding her job for himself. He accused her of past disloyalty to Mr Museveni, reviving claims that she backed former prime minister Amama Mbabazi when he challenged the president in the 2016 election, and suggested she could be implicated in Elwelu’s alleged treachery. “We shall arrest Jessica, without hesitation if she is part of Elwelu’s treachery,” he wrote, adding that under him the government would operate “on military terms”. Ms Alupo has not publicly responded. By the morning of 10 November, his X account appeared to have been deactivated.
The ruling National Resistance Movement’s top leadership met on 10 November to discuss the succession question. The AFP news agency reported that the meeting ended without agreement on a proposal to position Gen Kainerugaba as Mr Museveni’s successor, although the party rejected those reports as “completely false”. Its secretary-general, Richard Todwong, confirmed the meeting had taken place.
Dr Gerald Bareebe, a Ugandan-born political scientist at York University in Canada, told the BBC he saw a connection between the arrests and manoeuvring over the succession, often called the “Muhoozi Project”. “Senior officers believed not to support the project have been arrested, detained or charged with corruption and treason,” he said, adding that the allegations against some officers were widely viewed as politically motivated.
The tensions come as Uganda’s opposition faces pressure of its own: Bobi Wine, who finished second to Mr Museveni in this year’s presidential election, has gone into exile in the United States after being threatened by Gen Kainerugaba. Ugandan law bars serving military personnel from engaging in politics, and analysts say the loyalty of the elite Special Forces Command, which the general once commanded, could prove crucial in any transfer of power.
Note on sourcing: the account of the arrests and the succession dispute rests largely on BBC reporting, including accounts from anonymous officials, and the allegations against the detained officers have not been tested in court. The NRM disputes AFP’s account of its 10 November meeting.
Sources: BBC News — “Muhoozi Kainerugaba: The general at the centre of Uganda’s power struggle” (14 November 2026); AFP, via BBC; Capital FM — “Erratic Museveni son deactivates X handle after threats against Uganda VP” (https://capitalfm.africa/erratic-museveni-son-deactivates-x-handle-after-threats-against-uganda-vp/)
