HENRY K. OTAFIIRE: How Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba became a sensation overnight with his late night twitter attacks on Bobi Wine

A few days ago, Gen Kainerugaba Muhoozi has been trending on Twitter when he aimed a jab at Uganda’s Presidential candidate Hon Kyagulanyi Sentamu. It was a late night row that erupted into a shouting match. “Someone tell this young brother of mine that we are going to beat him very badly in the polls,” Gen Muhoozi tweeted. He continued “Ngu ‘Musinguzi’? Mbwenu ogu akasingura ki? (meaning: The so-called winner? What has he ever won/ accomplished?) This is an insult not only against Banyankole but against all the tribes of western Uganda.”

Hon Kyagulanyi shot back.”One more thing, the Banyankole did not just give me the name Musinguzi, they gave me their daughter (Barbie Itungo Kyagulanyi), my wife, and that means I am their son. They are not as hateful and as tribalistic as you are. Stop misrepresenting my in-laws,”

It should be remembered that Gen Kainerugaba and Hon Kyagulanyi have had a twitter squabble before. Therefore, this latest confrontation is not surprising. The backlash was fierce, as Bobi Wine stalwarts thronged the internet to call out the first son for having an “arrogant” attitude towards their candidate serenading him with mocking memes and vitriol throughout the night. In attempt to descalate an already inflamed situation, Gen Kainerugaba immediately deleted the tweets.

For many years, Gen Kainerugaba had maintained a low profile distant from the limelight that comes with his stature. However, that has changed since his ambition for Presidency started to manifest. Muhoozi Project- a coinage depicting a behind scenes succession plan by President Museveni to hand down power to his favorite son has stayed around like common cold since Gen David Sejusa’s famous letter that burst it a few years ago. Much as they dismiss it, it keeps winking very often.

In an attempt to emerge from his father’s larger than life shadow, he has increasingly used social media to reach out to Uganda’s youngest constituency attracting admiration and controversy in equal measure. He has overnight become a sensation with late night tweets that range from praising his heroic exploits of his kin and kith, to chest thumping about his military accomplishments and reminding those intending to destabilize peace (read advocating for change of government) that military might of UPDF will come full throttle at it’s slightest provocation.

At the heart of this twitter tirade, lies the sharp divide between two contemporaries that have scaled up towering heights of success through different paths. Hon Kyagulanyi is self made musician cum politician who has emerged from less privileged background, never knew the right people, never had the luxury of being able to pursue a career considered distinguished at least by our society standards.

While Gen Kainerugaba’s life has been epitome of baronial privilege. He went to Nottingham Forest University and later enrolled at Sandhurst- one of the prestigious military academies in the world. He has risen through the upper echelons of the army without much difficulty. At every stage of his life, his path has been smoothed, facilitated, expedited. Doors have swung open; you can hardly blame him for walking through them because he never chose to be first son.

On one hand you have a military general- a product of establishment whose precincts within power circles gives him a sort of an entitlement to finally claim his rightful place at the throne and on the other hand, you have a self made hustler who against challenging odds, has prospered in a society we occasionally and amusingly describe as a meritocracy.

The really interesting thing here, though, is what it tells us about the impeding political intrigue that is unfolding as Museveni Presidency wanes on the horizon. Kainerugaba’s tweets reflect typical mindset of a general that at a time when our countries’ politics have always seemed in ever greater, ever more orgasmic thrall towards the military ruling class. While Kyagulanyi’s is unorthodox and progressive meant to shake up the statusqo. So when Kainerugaba and Kyagulanyi are shooting each other jabs and barbs on social media, then, what we are really seeing is a tussle for power and centre stage. And so we should avoid the temptation to view the clash between Hon Kyagulanyi and Gen Kainerugaba as just a mere a twitter squabble, a juvenile tiff between two public figures.

And it is why, slowly and by degrees, a minor detail like a twitter feud assumes an almost totemic importance in shaping the debate and public opinion. And Hon Kyagulanyi knows, that taking on the first son gives him a political mileage and sets pace for a real political showdown in the near future as transition to post Museveni Presidency hangs on the horizon.