Gen Kainerugaba’s question to Rwanda spokesperson

Uganda's Chief of Defence Forces, General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, directly challenged the Rwandan government after Kigali publicly condemned his online remarks on ethnicity.

Writing on X, Gen Muhoozi asked whether comments by spokesperson Yolande Makolo represented Rwanda's official stance on a purely domestic Ugandan matter.

"Madame spokesperson, is this the official position of the government of Rwanda on something I tweeted that had nothing to do with Rwanda?" Gen Muhoozi asked.

His reaction followed Makolo's statement, where Kigali rejected "ethnic extremism" in posts linked to a public feud between Gen Muhoozi and businessman Odrek Rwabwogo.

The feud exploded when Gen Muhoozi declared the Presidential Advisory Committee on Exports and Industrial Development (PACEID) an illegal organisation, accused its chairman Rwabwogo of corruption, and threatened to arrest its members. He warned Ugandan radio and TV stations against giving PACEID officials airtime. Gen Muhoozi also disowned Rwabwogo as a brother-in-law, despite his marriage to Patience Museveni Rwabwogo.

During the online exchanges, Gen Muhoozi questioned Rwabwogo's ethnicity, writing: "I doubt that Odrek is a Muhima. He doesn't behave like one. He might be a Muhutu."

A Ugandan X user Ivan Mwijukye questioned how Rwanda viewed the remarks, asking if invoking ethnic identities was acceptable given the region's history. Makolo responded directly to Mwijukye, stressing that Rwanda spent 32 years rebuilding national unity following the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. She urged Uganda to keep local political disputes internal rather than dragging in Rwanda or misrepresenting its citizens.