Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba was on Monday, 10 October 2022, decorated to a four-star army General during a colourful ceremony at the general army headquarters in Bombo, days after his promotion.
The senior presidential advisor in charge of special operations was decorated by his wife Charlotte and uncle Gen Salim Saleh.
Gen Saleh also decorated the newly appointed UPDF Commander of Land Forces, Kayanja Muhanga, following his promotion to the rank of Lieutenant General.
Gen Saleh hailed Gen Kainerugaba for his dedicated service to the nation. Gen Saleh also emphasized that security is a crucial pillar of national development and called on the government to improve welfare of soldiers through better housing.
Chief of Defence Forces Gen Wilson Mbadi, the chairperson of the National Planning Authority, Pamela Mbabazi, and the deputy coordinator of Operation Wealth Creation, Maj Gen Stephen Kavuma, among others graced the occasion.
Earlier, Gen Kainerugaba was accompanied to the function of thousands of boda boda riders, several military vehicles and other supporters to the function.
Traffic in several parts of the city came to a standstill as Gen Kainerugaba’s convoy followed by his supporters passed through on its way to Bombo.
Under the new salary structure of UPDF, Gen Kainerugaba will earn Shs15m as salary, up from Shs12m.
Gen Kainerugaba being relieved of key duties in the military is seen by observers as giving him a leeway to venture into politics where many think he is being groomed to take over from his father, President Museveni.
Muhoozi was born in 1974 in Dar es Salaam. His early education was in Tanzania, and later at Mount Kenya Academy in Nyeri, Kenya and in Sweden. When Museveni took power in 1986, the family returned to Uganda, and Muhoozi attended the Kampala Parents School, King’s College Budo and St Mary’s College Kisubi.
In 1999, Muhoozi joined the Uganda People’s Defence Force as an officer cadet and graduated in 2000 from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. He later attended the Egyptian Military Academy. He also attended the Kalama Armoured Warfare Training School. He later took a one-year course at the US Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, graduating in June 2008.
