Muhoozi Kainerugaba

Muhoozi Kainerugaba (born 24 April 1974) is a Ugandan military officer and the eldest child of President Yoweri Museveni. He serves as the Chief of Defence Forces of the Uganda People's Defence Force (UPDF) and is the chairman of the Patriotic League of Uganda (a pressure group lobbying for presidency).

He served as Commander of the Special Forces Command (SFC), Ugandan Military's special operations unit, from 2008 to 2017 and again from December 2020 to 2021. In January 2017, Muhoozi was appointed by his father, as Senior Presidential Adviser for Special Operations, leading to speculations “he was being groomed for the presidency.” Retaining his aforementioned role, he was appointed again by his father, to serve as chief commander of the land forces of the UPDF from 24 June 2021 to 4 October 2022, when he was removed following tweets on X (née Twitter) claiming to be able to capture Nairobi in less than two weeks. Despite this, on March 21, 2024, He was appointed by his father, Museveni as the Chief of Defence—a position that effectively makes him the head of Uganda's Military.

Both the UPDF and the SFC are accused of using excessive force, as well as abductions; Muhoozi and other senior officials are mentioned in an International Criminal Court complaint. He announced he would be running for presidential office in elections slated for 2026, on 15 March 2023, despite his father also indicating he would run for re-election.

Under his leadership as Commander of Uganda's Land forces, on 30 November 2021, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo launched a joint military offensive in Eastern Congo dubbed 'Operation Shujaa', headed by then, Maj. Gen. Kayanja Muhanga. The stated reason was to fight against the jihadist linked rebel group Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) based in eastern Congo along the border with Uganda.