Uganda president raises succession amid fears of son's takeover

Uganda's long-ruling President Yoweri Museveni addressed his succession for the first time with his party, insiders said Wednesday, amid fears he will hand power to a son known for boasting of kidnapping and torturing opponents.

The 82-year-old president has ruled the east African nation for 40 years, having seized power following a guerrilla war in the 1980s.

Since winning a seventh term in elections in January, he has appeared to take more of a backseat, allowing his son, Muhoozi Kainerugaba, who is chief of the armed forces, to take increasing control.

Kainerugaba, 52, has vowed to run for the presidency in 2031. In recent months, he has laid the groundwork by locking up political rivals and shutting down the country's biggest independent media group for several weeks, saying he does not believe in a free press.

He is known for wild and erratic posts on X -- vowing to behead the main opposition leader, Bobi Wine, who has been forced to flee into exile in the United States, and boasting frequently of torturing other opponents in his "basement".

Muhoozi Kainerugaba is widely seen as the heir-apparent. By BADRU KATUMBA (AFP)

Though many see Kainerugaba as the heir-apparent, there was a backlash within the ruling party when plans for his anointment were leaked back in the early 2010s. Museveni has trodden carefully around the subject ever since.

On Tuesday, Museveni openly discussed his succession for the first time with the heads of his National Resistance Movement party, though he only spoke of the qualities needed in a leader without mentioning particular candidates, according to multiple party officials in attendance.

The president "emphasised that the discussions about (the succession) should focus on how to achieve the mission of taking Uganda to the next step and not necessarily on who should do it", a senior party official told AFP, on condition of anonymity.

Some at the meeting spoke in favour of Kainerugaba taking over, but half the room stayed silent and some voiced strong opposition.

Senior presidential adviser Hajjat Hadijah Namyalo Uzeiye told the meeting she was "already living in fear" after opposing Kainerugaba's plans to run for the presidency in 2031, according to another source.

She told the meeting she was regularly switching vehicles to avoid being kidnapped.

"While coming here, I used two vehicles to reach safely," she said. "They (Kainerugaba's supporters) have been threatening me."