Otafiire’s Veiled Attack against Muhoozi? There’s a Problem with a General Who Prefers Violence

Minister of Water and Environment and Ruhinda MP Maj Gen (Rtd) Kahinda Otafiire has delivered a pointed warning about the dangers of using violence to resolve political and social disagreements, raising questions about whether his remarks were directed at a fellow general.

Speaking in Parliament, Otafiire said disagreements were inevitable in any society, arguing that the real test was how people handled their differences.

“I always say, Mr. Speaker, Honourable Speaker, Sir, 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 said.

He immediately clarified that disagreement itself should not be treated as the problem.

“Well, I didn’t say that. Meaning, disagreement is not the problem, but how to resolve the contradiction is the problem,” he said.

It was when discussing how societies should resolve such contradictions that Otafiire turned to the conduct of military commanders.

“The whole mark of civilization is how people resolve contradiction without violence,” he said.

He then made a pointed reference to generals who favour force in dealing with problems.

“When you see a general who prefers violence as the best means of solving problems, then there is a problem,” Otafiire said.

The remark comes against the backdrop of Uganda’s increasingly prominent role for senior military figures in public affairs, including Chief of Defence Forces Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, although Otafiire did not mention Muhoozi by name in the statement.

Otafiire instead used the conduct of generals to make a broader argument about leadership, saying the most effective military commanders are not necessarily those who resort to armed confrontation.

“The greatest generals I know of are those who resolve problems without shooting a bullet,” he said.

He argued that information and intelligence should be used to understand an adversary’s intentions before a confrontation develops.

“Because in a managing society, we depend on information, government calls it intelligence,” Otafiire said.

He explained that understanding what an adversary intends to do can allow leaders to prevent a confrontation or adjust their approach before matters escalate.

“When you see what your adversary intends to do, you quickly prevent that initiative, or you change your ways of operation… so that you don’t go to confrontation,” he said.

Otafiire further outlined what he described as a progression from intelligence gathering to diplomacy and, only after those avenues have failed, war.

“When that fails, you resort to diplomacy,” he said. “It’s only when diplomacy has been exhausted and failed that you go to war.”

Even then, he argued, war should not be regarded as the ultimate objective.

“And you don’t go to war as an end in itself. You go to war in order to achieve the end state, which is a resolution of each other,” he said.

His remarks also extended beyond military strategy to the broader question of political tolerance, with Otafiire urging Ugandans to learn to accommodate opposing views.

“And we must learn to tolerate each other,” he said.

For Otafiire, tolerance should also apply to those who emerge victorious and those who lose political contests.

“The whole mark of civilization is that 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,” he said.

He then turned his attention to the relationship between the ruling National Resistance Movement and the political opposition, describing the latter as a necessary reflection of the ruling side.

“You know, you never see how beautiful your face is, or ugly your face is, until you look into the mirror,” Otafiire said.

“And colleagues on the NRM side, this opposition is our mirror reflection.”

Otafiire concluded his intervention by thanking the legislators.

The identity of the “general” referred to in his remarks was not stated, leaving open the question of whether the comments were directed at a particular military figure or were intended as a broader reflection on the use of force in resolving disagreements.

Months ago, Muhoozi ordered an investigation into an Ambassador and Otafiire after an audio of the two discussing him leaked. (See Details Here).

Otafiire and his son have also previously responded to some of Muhoozi threats, as reported Here and There.

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