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KEY POINTS
- Muhoozi Kainerugaba announced he would not run for Uganda’s presidency in 2026 and endorsed his father.
- President Yoweri Museveni is expected to seek a seventh term despite ruling for nearly 40 years.
- Museveni faces accusations of using security forces to suppress political opposition, which he denies.
The son of Yoweri Museveni, Uganda’s long-serving leader said on Saturday that he had given up his plan to run for presidency at the 2026 election. He pleaded with his supporters to vote for his father for a seventh term.
Despite leading the country for 38 years, President Museveni is widely expected to run for re-election even though he has not yet confirmed his candidacy.
Muhoozi Kainerugaba in a post on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, said “I would like to announce that I will not be on the ballot paper in 2026”.
He further added, “I fully endorse President Yoweri Museveni in the next elections.”
Kainerugaba is currently at the helm of the country’s military. Many people expect that he will eventually become his father’s chosen successor. Museveni has had to bear the burden of his son’s controversial comments.
In 2022, he had to apologise to Kenya after his son threatened to invade the neighbouring country on X (Twitter).
Yoweri Museveni’s long rule and allegations
According to a report by Reuters, other political parties in Uganda had long accused Museveni of seeking to impose a monarchy on Uganda. He has consistently denied this claim.
Museveni, now 80 years old, has been ruling Uganda since 1986. He had to change the constitution twice in order to extend his rule.
His political opponents and human rights activists accused Museveni of using security forces to jail and torture the supporters of opposition parties. He also denied these allegations.
Museveni, 80, has ruled Uganda since 1986 and has changed the constitution twice to extend his rule.
Bobi Wine, one of his political opponents came second at the last presidential election. He did not agree with the result, claiming that there was election fraud, including ballot stuffing, intimidation and abduction of his supporters. But Museveni called it Uganda’s fairest vote ever.
