All the four former Chief of Defence Forces, Gen Aronda Nyakairima, Gen Katumba Wamala, Gen David Muhoozi and Gen Wilson Mbadi have ended up serving in cabinet after being removed from their coveted military post.
While under the law a minister is above a CDF in protocol, in reality the army chief wields a lot of power given the military’s influential role in shaping politics in Uganda. The CDF also controls enormous resources since the military is one of the most funded institutions.
Sources in security have told us that the reason President Museveni retains former army commanders or other senior army officers in cabinet is to keep them in check and under his close control.
“They could go into politics like Besigye and others did and pose a big problem to him,” said one of our sources.
The president, we have been told, has never recovered from Dr Kizza Besigye’s “shock” retirement from the army in 2000. Besigye was retired with the help of insiders and immediately declared that he will challenge Museveni in 2001.
Museveni rattled by the decision decided to firmly control the process of retirement for senior army officers.
Subsequently, Museveni has only accepted the retirement of other senior army officers when he is sure they no longer pose a political threat to him. These include officers like: Gen David Sejusa and Lt Gen Henry Tumukunde, whose pleas to retire from the army took long to be honoured.
For long, there had been talk that Gen Aronda Nyakairima had requested the president to retire from the army to concentrate on personal ventures.
But the president refused because he was reportedly told that Nyakairima wanted to go into elective politics. Worse still, Nyakairima, it was claimed, had opposed schemes to have Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba succeed his father.
So, when he sacked him as CDF in 2013, Museveni made him minister of Internal Affairs, where he firmly controlled him until his mysterious death in 2015.
Gen Katumba Wamala followed a similar path. When he was sacked as CDF in 2017, he was shipped into cabinet. Wamala has never professed any political ambitions but he remains popular with masses.
Wamala’s successor, Gen David Muhoozi was appointed minister of state for Internal Affairs after he was relieved of his duties as CDF in June 2021. Muhoozi is quiet and had to read. Gen Wilson Mbadi, who replaced Muhoozi was on March 21 appointed minister of state for Trade, having served as CDF for close to two years.
Some have argued that having risen to the top position in the army, they can only serve in cabinet which is deemed a “promotion.”
Yet also by being in cabinet as serving army officers, they are still shackled by the UPDF Act and can’t engage in partisan politics.
Either way, the president keeps firm control over them.
