Chief of Defence Forces Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, has announced that his son, Ruhamya Kainerugaba, recently joined the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF), extending the Museveni family’s multi-generational military legacy into a new chapter.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday evening, Gen Muhoozi wrote:
“I’m extremely happy to announce that after 31 years in God’s Army, UPDF, God has blessed the House of Museveni with another soldier as of last month,” said Muhoozi.

“Private Ruhamya Kainerugaba, may Almighty God bless him as He did me.” 

Observers say it cements the Museveni family’s close ties with the national army, which has long served as both a backbone of state power and a cornerstone of national identity since the 1986 liberation war that brought President Yoweri Museveni to power. Private Ruhamya’s enlistment marks the third generation of the Museveni family directly involved in state military affairs. 

President Museveni himself led the five-year Bush War under the National Resistance Army (NRA) that ousted Milton Obote and the Okello junta.

His brother, Gen Salim Saleh (Caleb Akandwanaho), has been a central figure in UPDF operations and defence policy since the 1980s. 

Gen Muhoozi himself joined the UPDF in 1994, attending elite military academies including the Sandhurst Royal Military Academy in the UK and the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. 

He rose through the ranks to command the Special Forces and later serve as Commander Land Forces before being promoted to full General by President Museveni, his father, in 2023.

His public declaration of his son’s enlistment comes as Muhoozi increasingly positions himself in the national spotlight, both as a senior army officer and an emerging political force. 

His Patriotic League of Uganda (PLU) Movement, a political pressure group with nationwide mobilization networks, has been widely interpreted as laying the groundwork for a potential post-Museveni leadership bid.

The enlistment comes at a critical time for the UPDF and the NRM political establishment, as Uganda prepares for the 2026 general elections.

By ChimpReports