Muhoozi quits X (Twitter) after stirring hornet's nest, again

Uganda's Chief of Defence Forces and President Yoweri Museveni's son, General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, has deactivated his X (Twitter) account. 

The move, coming just days after he said he wanted to behead opposition politician Bobi Wine, caps the military leader's long and controversial run on the social media platform. 

In his last tweet to his 1 million followers, Gen Muhoozi cited "the instructions and blessings of my Lord Jesus Christ" to leave and concentrate on the army, the Uganda People's Defence Force (UPDF).

"I know you all love me and that you will continue to follow me like the wind long after here. At an appropriate time in the future...we shall always re-converge," he said. 

Sparked diplomatic rows

The First Son's tweets have previously sparked awkward diplomatic rows, as well as reopening old scars with neighbours such as Kenya and Rwanda. 

For instance, in 2022, General Muhoozi apologised to President William Ruto after his tweets kicked off a massive diplomatic storm between the two countries. In the posts, Uganda's heir apparent said he would only need two weeks with his army to capture Nairobi. 

President Museveni's administration distanced itself from his tweets, saying the country is committed to peaceful coexistence with Kenya. 

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs wishes to emphasise that the Government and the people of the Republic of Uganda treasure the existing strong bilateral relationships between the people and the Government of the Republic of Kenya based on our shared history, common values, mutual respect, trust and the desire to build a unified East Africa community,” a statement said at the time.

In a separate incident, he went on X to tell America’s ambassador William Popp to apologise to President Museveni or depart the East African nation, escalating diplomatic tensions between the countries. Gen Muhoozi cited “disrespecting our beloved and celebrated president and undermining the constitution of Uganda” as the reason behind the move.

“If this current US ambassador does not apologize to mzee (Museveni) personally by Monday morning (9:00am) for his undiplomatic behavior in our country, we will demand he leaves Uganda,” he said on Friday, October 4 this year.  

In a barrage of posts, the first son appeared to suggest that the US has recently been aiming against Museveni's 38-year ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) government, which shot to power in 1986.