The Senior Presidential Advisor on Special Operations Lt Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba has revealed that many Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) soldiers like him because he never tries to impose himself on them.
During an interview with an online news website the Public Lens, early this month, the First Son said whenever he is a given a military assignment, he always try to understand soldiers under his command since he regards them as heroes.
“I always try to understand their thinking which is quite different from civilian thinking, and then I have to explain to them the mission and why we have to achieve it. I think that is why they like me because I never try to impose myself on them but I make whatever assignments we have a collaborative effort. I think that is the best way to deal with soldiers,” he said.
On why he joined the force, Gen Muhoozi said he was inspired because he grew up in the army and lived with soldiers since childhood.
“I remember when we were in Tanzania in exile we used to live next to late Tito Okello. In fact I used to call him ‘Uncle Tito’. When we returned in 1979 I remember Mzee [President Yoweri Museveni] was a soldier and he used to have Tanzanian escorts around him. Tito Okello was also a senior member of the command structure of UNLA [Uganda National Liberation Army]. Then I was often in company of young officers like my uncle Saleh, late Fred Rwigyema, late Fred Rubereza.”
The former Special Forces Commander also disclosed that he was impressed by the current big number of young people joining the army.
“When we were younger ,people were not interested in joining the military. Now we have graduates flooding recruitment centres whenever there are calls for recruitment. When we were joining being educated was a problem, you would hardly find graduates getting interested in joining the military, but now the situation has changed. There are regular courses unlike in the late 1980s and early 90s when there was no training. But now at every step of a military officer’s career there is a course.”
