The reappointment of Dr Chris Baryomunsi to cabinet and his elevation to the Ministry of Health is a sharp rebuke to earlier social media assertions by Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the first son and CDF, that the Kinkiizi East MP would be excluded from the next cabinet.
After the January 15 elections, Muhoozi engaged in a heated exchange on X with Baryomunsi, in which he suggested the ICT minister would not survive the next cabinet reshuffle.
This was a cue to some of Muhoozi’s vocal supporters, like Kasambya MP, David Kabanda, to pile pressure on Dr Baryomunsi. Kabanda and Baryomunsi flexed it out on X, and at times, the attacks turned personal (remember when Baryomunsi questioned Kabanda’s academic credentials?).
However, Museveni’s new cabinet list tells a different story. Not only has Dr Baryomunsi been retained, but he has also been reassigned to the Ministry of Health, a portfolio considered more politically sensitive and administratively weighty than his previous docket in ICT and National Guidance.
The Ministry of Health, where Dr Baryoumsi will hold fort, has been allocated Shs 6 trillion in the 2026/2027 budget, while his former ministry of ICT is set to receive Shs 273 billion, almost 25 times more.
In Uganda’s local political parlance, Dr Baryomunsi has been moved from a “dry” to a “wet” ministry.
Anita Among’s exclusion from cabinet raises questions about her political future
Another notable appointment was Justine Nameere, who was made minister of state for Local Government. Sections of Patriotic League of Uganda (PLU) supporters had attacked Nameere over her vocal support for Anita Among’s re-election bid.
Interestingly, Nameere will now work under Balaam Barugahara, who was elevated to the senior position of minister of Local Government. Barugahara serves as PLU’s vice chairman for western Uganda.
Some of Muhoozi’s most vocal supporters, including Kabanda, did not make it to the cabinet. At the time of writing, Kabanda had even deactivated his X account.
So while Gen Muhoozi’s power and political influence have tremendously grown (he was the first to reveal that the PLU had endorsed Jacob Oboth Oboth for the position of speaker), the overall composition of the new cabinet reinforces the fact that his father, Gen Yoweri Museveni, remains firmly in control.
Museveni’s word, so far, remains final and unchallengeable.
