Chief of Defence Forces Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba has demanded an apology from Minister for Water and Environment Maj Gen (Rtd) Kahinda Otafiire over remarks the minister made in Parliament, escalating a public dispute between the two senior military figures.
Muhoozi initially gave Otafiire one week to apologise, but later shortened the deadline to three days and subsequently said Otafiire would be arrested.
“I hear my junior MG. Otafiire made some statements in Parliament against me. I’m giving him exactly 1 week to apologise to me or else he will see,” Muhoozi posted on X on Friday.
He later wrote: “One week is too long, he has 3 days to apologise.”
In subsequent posts, Muhoozi said he had spoken to Gen Salim Saleh, who had asked him to forgive Otafiire, but indicated that he intended to pursue the matter.
“3 days is too long. We are arresting Otafiire tomorrow without fail,” Muhoozi wrote.
He also accused Otafiire of insulting the UPDF, which he described as “God’s Army”, and said the matter would be dealt with.
Muhoozi did not specify the legal basis for the threatened arrest.
Otafiire’s Parliament remarks
The dispute follows Otafiire’s maiden address to the 12th Parliament on September 30, when he presented a statement on the performance of the Water and Environment sector for the 2025/26 financial year.
After addressing his ministerial brief, Otafiire spoke about political tolerance and the need to resolve disagreements without violence.
“I always say that when you see two people living together and they don’t disagree for a month, it means one of them is a fool,” Otafiire told MPs.
He added that disagreement itself was not the problem, but how people resolved their differences.
“The hallmark of civilisation is how people resolve contradiction without violence. When you see a general who prefers violence as the best means of solving problems, then there is a problem,” he said.
“The greatest generals I know of are those who resolve problems without shooting a bullet.”
Otafiire did not mention Muhoozi by name during the parliamentary address.
He also called on members of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) to tolerate political opponents, describing the opposition as a “mirror of reflection” through which the ruling party could examine itself.
“Those who win are magnanimous in victory, and those who don’t win also respect the winners, but they have a right to be heard,” Otafiire said.
Muhoozi’s response
Muhoozi interpreted the remarks as being directed at him and accused Otafiire of attacking him in Parliament.
PLU executive secretary Daudi Kabanda also questioned why Otafiire had been allowed to depart from the ministerial statement he was presenting and make what Kabanda described as abusive remarks against Muhoozi without being ruled out of order.
“Who allowed Otafiire to digress from the issues of his docket that he was addressing as per the order paper and resort to abusing Afande MK on the floor of Parliament without being ruled out of order?” Kabanda posted on X.
Muhoozi later wrote that Otafiire was “finished” and said the minister would apologise.
He also wrote that Otafiire “will never stand for anything in Bushenyi again”, apparently referring to the minister’s political base.
Otafiire has not publicly responded to Muhoozi’s latest threats.
The exchange has brought renewed attention to tensions between the two Generals, who have previously disagreed publicly over politics and Gen Muhoozi’s political ambitions.
The latest dispute comes as Muhoozi, who is also chairman of the Patriotic League of Uganda (PLU), continues to feature prominently in Uganda’s political discourse, while Otafiire has publicly called for political tolerance and peaceful resolution of disagreements.
The two men’s positions are now starkly different in the public record: Otafiire says political contradictions should be resolved without violence; Muhoozi is demanding an apology and has publicly threatened consequences if it is not forthcoming.
