I have read and heard strong and almost convincing submissions about Gen Muhoozi Keinerugaba’s imminent succession to his father’s position as president.

Whereas I do not entirely disagree with this view, I have a different angle to it. In June 2008, the then Presidential Guard Brigade spokesperson and acting defence and UPDF spokesperson, Captain Chris Magezi, wrote in the New Vision thus: “Major Muhoozi Keinerugaba’s graduation after completing his course at Fort Leavenworth in the US, on June 13, should be read correctly. It is not true that Maj Keinerugaba, also an alumunus of the prestigious Sandhurst Military Academy in the UK, is being groomed for the presidency”. 

I was dismayed by this protectionist missive and wrote a rejoinder titled Muhoozi is as eligible as any other Ugandan for presidency, where is said: “It is almost acceptable that Uganda is not yet ready for a purely civilian President. It is also a fact that Muhoozi has certainly rushed through military training with associated military promotions.

His continued preparation for leadership through undergoing leadership training, the recent being at the prestigious Fort Leaverworth Academy in USA is a no mean achievement in this direction. The fact that other officers in UPDF have attended the same academies does not proclude the fact of being groomed.

It must be noted that by 2016 those who will be at the helm of UPDF will be the current youthful majors and colonels most of the old guards having been retired. Lt Col Muhoozi, having been rumoured to have participated in the recruitment of these youthful professionals from universities would certainly be the most eligible at 41 years of age then with assured loyalty of the army.

Moreover, with all the military decorations acquired after his bachelor’s degree from Nottingham University and being a Ugandan like any other citizen cannot just be dismissed on account of an accident of birth and a fact of history. 

Thinking like that would be exposure of utter intellectual myopia. The earlier Ugandans realized and, therefore, prepared for this option to forestall any surprises the better for stability and continuity. What then would remain is for Muhoozi to retire earlier and join the NRM party as a serious mobiliser.

By the time the NRM national conference that elects a presidential candidate convenes, he would have traversed the country meeting various delegates. This happened with current secretary general of the NRM party. Col Muhoozi Keinerugaba would certainly not be unoblivious to this historical fact.

Maj Chris Magezi and others like him should assist Ugandans to predict our future to avoid bitter experiences of other countries. Public debate on the issue of succeeding President Museveni after 30 years at the helm is extremely healthy for our politics as well as our development aspirations”.

Unfortunately, I was informed by New Vision editors then that my article was speculative and the first family had expressed displeasure to be a subject of debate in the press. I shelved the write-up.

In 2012, when I wrote in the Sunday Monitor of August 19 about President Museveni’s constitutional reign ending in 2021 and President Kagame’s likelihood of amending the Rwandan constitution to remove term limits, I was welcomed with a barrage of insults, ridiculed, and my intellectual standing questioned by over 180 commentators. Time and events have certainly vindicated me.

Whereas I still contend that General Keinerugaba is obviously in the succession queue, I have since adjusted my sequencing to include Mrs Janet Kataaha Museveni as the immediate successor, after three events occurred:

When Janet Museveni entered elective politics, quit after serving two terms but insisted on being the NRM boss for Ntungamo district. When, for the first time, Janet accompanied President Museveni all through his campaign rallies (except in Kigezi for obvious reasons) and she would be the first to address people.
It was even more revealing when I read Janet Museveni’s book My Life’s Journey.

Whereas the first two events are only a reminder to the readers, it is the book (I am certain, given our reading culture, that not many people have read it) that possesses revealing insights on Janet’s ambitions (God’s calling) for the highest office carefully and deliberately “engraved” in the following excerpts:

Foreword by Yoweri Museveni: “Her performance in politics has been very good. She has succeeded in uniting the people in the area who were previously quite divided. She is continuing to grow in this field and I am confident she will succeed with the same grace she has exhibited in the other areas of her life.”

Then Janet writes: “We are much older, parents and grandparents, but in many ways, we are still dreaming, dreaming that our lives can still be used by God to serve our country and help our people attain life and fulfil the destiny God intended.

“I relished the thought of being a grandmother and looking after our farms in Rwakitura and Kisozi, and doing things I had never had the time to do, like gardening….that is when the Lord would call me to jump into an area that I had always considered off limits…”

Whereas I leave the readers to discern and make inferences on their own, I remind them that Janet is writing in 2011 while serving her last term in parliament.

I also ask you to look at all these events together, not in isolation. If you add President Museveni’s statement to the world in a 2012 NTV interview with Patrick Kamara about age 75:

If term limits are lifted, why should the country have the age limit? What is your view on age limit, should it be there, anyway?

That one I think we had ignored…But I think after the age of 75, there is some scientific idea there that may be the vigour is not as much as before…I think if you want very active leaders, it is good to have ones below the age of 75.

Are you saying you wouldn’t go beyond the age of 75?

Not at all. Certainly not. That is in the Constitution now. And I will not involve myself in wanting to change that. Because I think there is some scientific logic behind it.

If Museveni stands by this, in addition to his characteristic of not wanting to be predictable, it is then that you will realise that the Muhoozi retirement from the army serves only to continue the succession debate towards him while preparing another surprise for Uganda, Janet Kataaha Museveni.

agpereza@yahoo.com

The author is a former MP for Rubanda East and minister of state for local government.