Patriotic League of Uganda (PLU) communications director Andrew Mwenda has threatened to mobilise support to push Water and Environment Minister Kahinda Otafiire out of Cabinet and defeat him in his parliamentary constituency, describing the veteran politician as “chicken feed”.
Mwenda said PLU had enough support in Parliament to influence Otafiire’s political future, escalating a public dispute between the minister and PLU chairman Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the Chief of Defence Forces.
“Otafiire is chicken feed for us. We’ll just eat him like grasshoppers,” Mwenda said in remarks reported by Nile Post on Wednesday, October 14.
Mwenda claimed that PLU could secure enough votes to have Otafiire removed from Cabinet and could also challenge him in Ruhinda County, Mitooma District, where the minister has a long political history.
“In that Parliament, if we say we want votes, it’s a Parliament of 529 members. We have about 500 votes. So we can actually cause him to be removed from Cabinet,” Mwenda said.
He also threatened to dismantle Otafiire’s political network, arguing that the minister’s main source of political support was President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni.
Mwenda’s remarks come amid growing tensions between Otafiire and Muhoozi, who demanded an apology from the minister over comments about military officers who use violence and intimidation to settle political disagreements.
Although Otafiire did not name Muhoozi in his parliamentary remarks, the army chief interpreted the comments as an attack on him and demanded a public apology, at one point threatening to have the minister arrested.
Otafiire has since defended his position, saying he would rather die fighting than live begging. He has also distanced himself from PLU, saying he cannot speak on behalf of an organisation to which he does not belong.
The confrontation has drawn other PLU figures into the dispute, with some calling for Otafiire’s removal from government.
However, the decision to appoint or dismiss ministers rests with President Museveni. Mwenda’s statements represent his own claims about PLU’s political strength and do not establish that Otafiire will be removed from Cabinet or defeated in his constituency.
