‎Uganda's Army Chief Orders Turkish Nationals to Leave, Reviving Months-Long Row with Ankara

Uganda's Chief of Defence Forces, General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, has ordered Turkish nationals to leave the country and called for a mass demonstration outside the Turkish Embassy in Kampala on September 18, escalating a diplomatic dispute with Türkiye that has simmered for months.

"Pack Their Bags"
Kainerugaba, son of President Yoweri Museveni, made the announcement in a series of posts on his official X account on Wednesday, September 9, declaring that he had severed all ties with Turkish interests in Uganda. He wrote that Turkish nationals should "pack their bags as soon as possible and get out of our country".

About two hours later, he named Ugandan legislator Hon. Fadhil (Twala Fadhil) to lead the planned protest, describing it as a full-force mobilisation by the Patriotic League of Uganda (PLU), and warned that his position "will not change this time," threatening to arrest "any Turkish agent" who spoke against it.

Notably, Kainerugaba deleted the post calling for Turkish nationals to leave the country a day after making it, though the protest announcement and his broader stance remained in circulation, and Uganda's foreign ministry has not reiterated the directive as official government policy.

The Fred Lumbuye Dispute
At the centre of the row is Fred Lumbuye, a Ugandan government critic and blogger based in Türkiye. Kainerugaba has repeatedly demanded that Turkish authorities extradite or expel Lumbuye, accusing Ankara of harbouring a fugitive wanted by Kampala. Turkish authorities have not handed Lumbuye over, and the dispute over his case has recurred as a central grievance in Kainerugaba's public statements since the row began.

Months of Escalation
Wednesday's outburst is the latest chapter in a dispute that began in early April 2026, when Kainerugaba published a series of posts on X criticising Uganda's relationship with Türkiye and demanded $1 billion from Ankara over Uganda's military role in Somalia, threatening at the time to shut down the Turkish Embassy and suspend Turkish Airlines operations in the country.

In June, he escalated further, claiming Uganda had cancelled a multi-billion-dollar Standard Gauge Railway contract awarded to Turkish construction firm Yapı Merkezi for the Malaba-Kampala line, giving Turkish citizens 30 days to leave the country and calling for embassy protests that were later postponed. At the time, he declared on X that "all Turks must be outside of our country in 30 days".

Turkey's ruling AK Party responded cautiously to the earlier round of statements, with spokesperson Ömer Çelik saying the remarks had no diplomatic or political basis and maintaining that relations between the two countries should continue to be guided by friendship and cooperation.

A Relationship Built on Trade and Infrastructure

The dispute unfolds against the backdrop of a genuinely deep bilateral relationship. Uganda and Türkiye cooperate across trade, infrastructure, education, and cultural exchange, with Turkish companies invested in construction, manufacturing, and hospitality inside Uganda, while Turkish Airlines provides one of the country's key international air links.

That interdependence is part of why diplomats and the expatriate community in Kampala have voiced concern over the latest directive, given how much practical cooperation would be disrupted if Kainerugaba's demands were ever translated into formal government policy.

What Remains Unclear
Kainerugaba holds the country's top military post and serves as a senior presidential adviser, but he is not Uganda's foreign minister, and his social media posts do not, on their own, constitute a formal government expulsion order. As of this writing, there has been no official Ugandan government directive expelling Turkish nationals or severing diplomatic relations with Türkiye.

Whether the planned September 18 demonstration proceeds and whether Kampala's foreign ministry moves to either endorse or distance itself from Kainerugaba's position will determine whether this remains a war of words or hardens into an actual diplomatic rupture.

Mustapha Bature Sallama
Medical/ Science Communicator,
Private Investigator, Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Analysis,

International Conflict Management and Peacebuilding. ( USIP)

[email protected]
+233555275880

Sources:
The Eastleigh Voice "Uganda army chief Muhoozi orders Turkish nationals to leave, calls for protest outside embassy in Kampala"

Zambia Monitor "'Pack your bags and get out,' Uganda army chief orders Turkish nationals to leave country"

AzernewsAzernews, via The Zambian Observer / K24 Digital Kainerugaba's X posts, September 9, 2026

Free Press Kashmir "Uganda army chief deletes call for Turkish nationals to leave country"

Pulse Uganda "Lumbuye cited in Uganda's current diplomatic spat with Turkey," June 2026

The Kenya Times "Muhoozi Issues 30-Day Ultimatum To Turkish Citizens In Uganda," June 28, 2026

K24 Digital "Inside Muhoozi's decision to order expulsion of Turkish nationals from Uganda"

The Kenya Times Ömer Çelik, AK Party spokesperson, response to Kainerugaba's April 2026 statements

The Zambian Observer "Uganda's army chief tells Turkish Nationals to leave the country and orders a protest at the Turkish Embassy on 18 September"