Muhoozi's PLU plans protest outside Turkish Embassy; here's why

• PLU plans to hold a protest outside the Turkish Embassy in Kampala.

• Daudi Kabanda ordered all PLU leaders to attend or risk losing their positions.

• The feud started after Muhoozi demanded $1 billion from Türkiye and threatened diplomatic action.

Uganda’s Patriotic League of Uganda (PLU), a political pressure group aligned to Chief of Defence Forces Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, is planning a demonstration outside the Turkish Embassy in Kampala following weeks of tensions between Muhoozi and the government of Türkiye.

The planned protest was announced on Thursday morning by PLU secretary general Daudi Kabanda, who directed all party leaders and Central Committee members to attend.

“A demonstration will be held at the Turkish Embassy,” Kabanda said 

He added that all appointed leaders were required to participate and warned that absence would be treated as resignation from their positions within the organisation.

The protest stems from a diplomatic feud triggered by a series of controversial social media posts made by Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba in April.

In the now-deleted posts, Muhoozi demanded $1 billion from Türkiye as compensation for Uganda’s military role in Somalia, arguing that Ugandan troops had carried the burden of fighting Al-Shabaab militants while Türkiye benefited economically from investments and infrastructure projects in Somalia. 

He also threatened to end diplomatic relations with Türkiye within 30 days, close the Turkish Embassy in Kampala and block Turkish Airlines operations in Uganda. 

The remarks sparked backlash and mockery from Turkish social media users, escalating online tensions between Muhoozi’s supporters and Turkish commentators.

According to analysts quoted by regional media, Uganda’s frustrations partly stem from the country’s long military involvement in Somalia under African Union missions. 

Uganda has been one of the biggest troop contributors since 2007 and has suffered heavy casualties in the fight against Al-Shabaab. 

Muhoozi argued that Türkiye entered Somalia later and benefited from a more stable environment created partly by Ugandan and African Union forces.

Despite the online attacks and threats, official diplomatic relations between Kampala and Ankara have remained intact.

Last month, Uganda’s foreign affairs minister Odongo Jeje Abubakhar met Turkish ambassador Mehmet Fatih Ak in Kampala, where both sides reaffirmed bilateral cooperation in trade, infrastructure and education. 

PLU has previously organised demonstrations against foreign missions, including protests targeting the German Embassy over what the group described as interference in Uganda’s internal affairs.

The latest planned protest now risks drawing further attention to the growing controversy surrounding Muhoozi’s outspoken political style and his increasing influence through PLU, which many observers see as part of his broader political mobilisation ahead of Uganda’s future succession politics.