Is this how our Kaguta family fell apart?

Salim Saleh and Muhoozi Kainerugaba

If you haven’t watched the viral clip where Gen. Salim Saleh asks the European Union ambassadors to cease fire over the matter of the reputational damage that Museveni’s all-too-powerful son is causing the country, then you have missed some really delicious drama.

Look it up. In just a few minutes, one is able to make a thousand conclusions. It was not just Saleh and his Mzungu guests. There were other protagonists, including (former?) journalist and every-powerful-and-rich-person’s-spokesperson, Andrew Mwenda, and former ESO boss, David Pulkol.

Mwenda laboured to make some unintelligible arguments about neo-colonialism, blah-blah-blah. But the more he spoke, the more embarrassingly pretentious and out-of-touch he came off. It was an inelegant display.

I am not sure what David Pulkol was doing in that space (or where he has been). But he sounded as sharp as ever, reminding Mwenda of a basic truth that torture isn’t a marker of sovereignty. You could feel the pain in Museveni’s ‘co-president’ brother’s voice. He sounded in charge but helpless at the same time.

Offered to apologise on their son’s behalf but then mournfully added: “I don’t know what he will tweet tonight.” They raised him, they have to carry the cross. As the Baganda have said, “azaala ekibi…” Saleh tried to keep it light, noting that these ironically-educated Gen Z’ soldiers aren’t from amongst them.

That they “seem to have a problem in their heads.” By the time European dignitaries did the journey to Gulu to talk to a man with no official position in the government of his brother, they had actually had enough. Look, this wasn’t about the optics of diplomacy.

Otherwise, they would have sought audience with Yoweri Museveni. But they wanted to have a direct conversation with the deep state. So, they did the tortuous journey to Gulu, and showed up not in suits, but with their sleeves folded: fight or serious mode.

The clip, which only captures the German ambassador speaking, shows him being upfront, asking that besides Nobert Mao, someone else has to call out the braggadocio son of Yoweri Museveni – on both his utterances and actions. “Torturing our people,” as David Pulkol remarked, is not our right.

If they met for over an hour, that entire hour must have been delicious. These are the agonies of parenting. When it hits you, sadly in old age, that you actually missed the mark. That your legacy will not be carried on, and your wealth may never be protected.

So, Chinua Achebe would capture Okonkwo’s uncle, Obierika reminding the charismatic, brave and fierce warrior of Umuofia, that “glowing begets cold impotent ash.” This was after Okonkwo had learned that his son, Nwoye, had actually joined the missionaries, by extension, the colonisers. It was painful.

The Baganda version of this piece of lore goes “embwa enjizzi, ezaala enkolya,” that somehow, a brilliant and agile hound, finds itself with a lazy offspring.

Islam Gaddafi or MuhoozI Kainerugaba?

I am always tempted to see Muhoozi Kainerugaba alongside Col. Muammar Gaddafi’s son, Seif-al-Islam Gaddafi – who is actually presently the same age as our presidential hopeful. As Gaddafi was being unfairly bombed by NATO, Seif, a London School of Economics (LSE) and political science graduate, was on TV articulately defending father and country.

He was never insulting, never angry, never boisterous. Col. Gaddafi had really raised a son fully prepared to take the reins. Even the western world loved him. Indeed, pundits on Libya have noted that Islam Gaddafi still has chance to become Libyan president.

Does our MK stand a chance to be president independent of the old man? Is ours able to hold lengthy tough interviews with local and international press or only articulate on a keyboard?

I have endlessly challenged his handlers – especially his media savvy “special spokesperson”, Andrew Mwenda – to gift him to Capital Radio’s The Capital Gang; or the calmer, Radio One’s Spectrum Extra, or NBS TV’s Morning Breeze. It would be a wonderful introduction to the country.

Kaguta’s entanglements

While Muhoozi Kainerugaba’s positions on Burkina Faso’s Ibrahim Traore, and the Ukraine-Russia conflict appear anti-establishment – and admirable – the man seems to have zero awareness of his family’s political-economic entanglements with the western world. (Ironically, he has a pro-Israel position on the Gaza genocide, and the UPDF actually organises prayer sessions for Israel Defence Forces).

Inexplicably, Muhoozi seems convinced his family actually valiantly fought and won a war which saw the NRA take power. While this story of self-sustaining heroism is good for public relations, a family member ought to know a little more: that without British MI6, Israel arms supply to the Rwenzori in 1984-5 (which means the American support), and thus the western world, there would be no NRA victory.

He should be able to understand why our economy is foreign-owned. But this 52-year-old Gen-Z not only recently went ballistic against the American ambassador to Uganda but is now picking a fight with the biggest economy in Europe – and with all of the EU.

Does this Gen-Z know that the western world – especially the US – with their blatant disregard for international law could start firing pre-emptive strikes against UPDF positions and installations? Does this Gen-Z understand that these countries, having placed his father in power, actually have ability to remove him if they so wanted?

As this meeting wound down, Gen. Saleh actually decided to throw his son under the bus. That he was not one of them. Something like, ‘these kids don’t know stuff ’.

I can imagine the thoughts going through the Kagutas watching their potential successor making major mistakes before actually taking the reins.