Chief of Defence Forces Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba has given retired Lt Gen Peter Elwelu an ultimatum to surrender, threatening to declare him a rebel and deal with him accordingly over alleged stockpiling of weapons and ammunition.
In a post on X on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, Muhoozi claimed that security personnel had recovered a cache of weapons and ammunition from one of Elwelu’s homes in Teso.
“Some of the arms ‘Private Elweru’ was stockpiling at one of his homes in Teso. We have recovered a lot of arms and ammunition from his house. He has hours to surrender before we declare him a rebel and deal with him accordingly,” Muhoozi wrote.
The CDF did not specify the number or type of weapons allegedly recovered, the location of the house, or the deadline given to Elwelu. The claims had not been independently verified, and no detailed official account of the reported recovery was immediately available.
The latest statement escalates a public confrontation between Muhoozi and the former deputy army chief, who previously served as one of the Uganda People’s Defence Forces’ (UPDF) most senior officers.
Earlier on Tuesday, Muhoozi announced on X that he had stripped Elwelu of his military ranks and demoted him to Private, describing him as a traitor. He also claimed that more than 20 former soldiers associated with Elwelu had been arrested and were cooperating with investigators.
Daily Monitor reported the announcements but noted that Muhoozi had not provided details of the arrests or the specific charges against those detained.
Muhoozi has also claimed that Elwelu’s wife was arrested over alleged domestic abuse, an allegation that has not been independently verified.
It was not immediately clear whether the reported recovery of weapons was connected to the arrests or whether Elwelu faced any formal charges relating to an alleged rebellion.
Elwelu was removed from the UPDF’s top leadership in March 2024 and subsequently appointed a presidential adviser. He was also among more than 1,300 military personnel scheduled for retirement in 2025.
Muhoozi comments on inflation
In separate posts on Tuesday, Muhoozi also made remarks about economic challenges, using a story about former President Idi Amin to comment on speculation and inflation.
“One day they told Idi Amin that the economy was suffering because of something called ‘Speculation’. He responded ‘Arrest that man called Speculation’,” he wrote.
In another post, he continued the joke by suggesting that Amin was later told that speculation had a brother called inflation, who lived on Kampala Road but could not be found.
The economic remarks were separate from his statements about Elwelu.
The latest claims against the retired general come amid questions about the basis for the reported demotion, arrests and security allegations. No independent evidence establishing that Elwelu was stockpiling weapons for a rebellion was available in the sources reviewed.
Elwelu had not publicly responded to the latest allegations by the time of publication.
