Kampala, Uganda (AP) – Ugandan military authorities on Friday accused diplomats from Europe in subversive activities to escalate tensions over Ugandan security forces over human rights violations in Europe.
The military said in a statement that some European diplomats represented “against negative and traitor group mobilization from the Yoweri Museveni government”.
The statement listed German ambassador Matthias Schauer, noting: “The intelligence agency is aware of the obvious stupidity he has been in different parts of the country for some time.”
The statement was published by Colonel Chris Magezi, the close friend of General Muhoozi Kaiinerugaba, who is the president's son and who also serves as Uganda's supreme military commander.
The military rise of Kaierugaba has been a concern for Ugandans who believe he is ready to take over Museveni in a chaotic political transition. Kaierugaba often asserted that he wanted to inherit his father as president of the East African country, which shocked the Ugandans who did not want to see hereditary rule.
Kainerugaba has been recently notorious for its unpredictable posts on social platform X. He threatened to behead Bobi Wine, a well-known opposition figure who raised widespread criticism earlier this month for reporting his “basement” of Wine’s Bodyguard, which he lacked at this time.
German Ambassador Schauer is one of a group of European diplomats who complained about Kaierugaba at a meeting held on Thursday with Salim Saleh, an influential member of Uganda security equipment. According to local media reports, Saleh apologized for Kaierugaba's provocative post on X.
The strong response from the Kaierugaba Press Office on Friday marked an escalation of relations between the Ugandan government and the alleged diplomats.
It is impossible to get comments from Uganda's top EU diplomat Schauer or Jan Sadek immediately.
The EU has repeatedly urged Ugandan authorities to protect civil liberties next year before the presidential election.
Sadek expressed concern about serious assaults including arbitrary detention and the degraded treatment of political opponents. In his speech in early May, he talked about the “shocking militarization of the political arena”.
“The obvious impunity of the military power of civilians is contradictory to the principle of the rule of law,” he said.
Museveni first took power by force in 1986, and his sixth term was in office. He will seek reelection in a January 2026 poll.
Many Ugandans expect an unpredictable political transition, as the 80-year-old Museveni has no obvious successor in the ruling national resistance party, and real power is concentrated in a strong military and powerful intelligence system. Some observers are worried that Museveni may come out to support Kaierugaba in a bloodless coup.
Kizza Besigye, a longtime opposition leader, has been sentenced to jail for alleged treason since November, and his lawyers say it was politically motivated. Besigye, a qualified doctor, retired from Uganda's colonel and was the former chairman of the forum for the Democratic Change Party, the most outstanding opposition group in Uganda.
Since independence from the British in 1962, Uganda has never seen a peaceful transfer of political power.
