By Sonja Smith
The chief of Uganda’s military is threatening to expel the top U.S. diplomat assigned to the Central African nation after a diplomatic spat.
General Muhoozi Kainerugaba has given US Ambassador William Popp an ultimatum – apologize by Monday morning or leave the country, according to reports.
The military leader has not said exactly what offense Ambassador Popp committed and embassy sources tell local outlets that this outburst has caught them totally by surprise.
General Kainerugaba – the son of Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni – made the demand earlier this week on X and followed up with a barrage of tweets that doubled down on accusations that Popp was “undermining” the Ugandan government, though none of Popp’s actions were described.
“Fellow Ugandans,” the General wrote in since deleted tweets according to The East African. “It is my solemn duty to announce to you all that we as a nation are about to have a serious confrontation with the current US Ambassador to our country. For disrespecting our beloved and celebrated President and undermining Uganda’s Constitution.”
Kainerugaba went on, “If the current US Ambassador does not apologise to Mzee [sic] personally by Monday morning (9:00 am) for his undiplomatic behaviour in our country, we will demand he leaves Uganda.”
The Presidential-scion added that he has “no problem with the USA”, but added “lately, we have a lot of evidence that they have been working against the NRM government.”
It is unclear what kind of activity is being alleged against Ambassador Popp or whether the two men had a dispute of a personal nature.
An embassy source told The East African they were caught unawares and were “trying to anaylse the situation.”
“Our nearly $1 billion supports local institutions and organizations every day to improve the health education, and prosperity of millions of Ugandans,” a statement from the Embassy given to that outlet read. “The embassy, the Ambassador, and the United States government continue to work directly and normally every day with Ugandan authorities on a full range of issues.”
Sewayana Livingstone, director of the NGO Foundation for Human Rights Initiative Uganda said Kainerugaba needs to stay in his lane.
“He needs to calm down,” Livingstone told VOA News, “He needs to understand that Uganda i snot him, neither is he Uganda. I think Ugandans need to call him to order. It’s high time.”
Though the four-star General apparently deleted some the controversial X posts, but he has also continued to repost news articles detailing the current dispute.
Kainerugaba has a very active social media presence. He boasts over 10,000 posts and nearly one-million followers on X.
At home, Kainerugaba has faced criticism for this over–active internet presence – but has defended himself on X writing, “If I’m not commenting on socio-political and economic issues, I’m not doing my job,” adding, “it’s absolutely professional for me to post all the time.”
The U.S. Embassy in Uganda did not reply to a request for comment at the time of publication and have made no public statements about the spat on any social platform.
