President Yoweri Museveni is today, Monday, June 27, 2022, expected to hold a meeting with top army commanders amid talk of alleged disgruntlement and general low morale in the establishment, the Ug Standard has learnt.
Sources within the military intimated to the UG Standard on Sunday, 26 June 2022 that the President, fresh from the CHOGM summit in Kigali, Rwanda, is expected to meet the army chiefs in a base outside Kampala.
While some senior army commanders expect the meeting to take place in Ntungamo, the sources were not definite on this.
This comes after the Deputy Chief of Defence Forces (D/CDF), Lt Gen Peter Elwelu, last Thursday, June 23, 2022, placed all Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) soldiers on standby Class One, the highest level of combat readiness.
While UPDF spokesman Brig Felix Kulayigye was quick to dismiss the call as “nothing to worry about and to and that the army can manage its [own] affairs?”, some sources have pointed to internal intrigue and misunderstandings as the cause for some unusual events in the army.
Tim Kalyegira, a journalist on Saturday, seemed to point to the conflict when he tweeted: “I don’t know if we should worry, but what I can tell you who are reading this is that inside the army, the mood/morale is like what it was in the UNLA around early 1984. Not yet an all-out crisis, but certainly no longer the familiar, calm normal. You can quote me on that.”
“Army fed up with MK’s birthday events and his openly voicing presidential ambitions, against army rules. M7, as a result, orders MK not to attend the Kiruhura birthday rally, but anger in the army remains high. A week later, the army is put on the highest level of alertness,” he added.
Lt Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba’s recent tweets have also pointed to something being amiss in the rank and file of the army.
“In the coming battle, let the people of Uganda and Rwanda support me… like I have fought for them. Let us deal with the traitors once and for all!” Lt Gen Muhoozi tweeted.
“Those who try to come between my father and me will learn a very bitter lesson. Where were they when we were refugees? Tutawona wale Mungu anapenda!” he added.
