CABBAGE POLITICS: I Can’t Apologize To That Boy Muhoozi – Angry Kahinda Otafiire Confirms

Tensions within the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) escalated on Friday evening after Chief of Defence Forces and Patriotic League of Uganda (PLU) chairman Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba issued a stern ultimatum demanding a public apology from Minister of Water and Environment Maj Gen (Rtd) Kahinda Otafiire.

Writing in a series of social media posts, Gen Muhoozi lashed out at the veteran bush-war commander following statements Otafiire made in Parliament and during a public lecture at Valley University of Science and Technology in Bushenyi.

Muhoozi warned that if Otafiire did not apologize within three days, security forces would arrest him, labeling the elder politician a “nuisance” who ought to be sent to an old people’s home. Otafiire, the minister of Water and Environment, addressed Parliament on September 30, 2026. He urged leaders to settle disagreements peacefully and respect different political views.

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

He argued that effective generals prevent confrontation by understanding their adversaries and addressing the causes of conflict. Disagreement, he said, was inevitable. The challenge lay in how leaders resolved it.

Otafiire also urged the ruling National Resistance Movement to listen to the opposition. He described opposition politicians as a mirror through which the party could assess itself, adding that those who lose elections retain the right to be heard.

The exchange adds to longstanding differences between the two generals over Gen Kainerugaba’s presidential ambitions. In February, Otafiire publicly rejected the prospect of Gen Kainerugaba becoming president, while distinguishing his political position from his personal regard for President Yoweri Museveni’s son.

Visit UHRC Sponsored Kainerugaba also declared that Otafiire would apologise and “will never stand for anything in Bushenyi again”.

The overnight posts escalated an ultimatum he issued earlier on October 2. He initially gave Otafiire one week to apologise over remarks he said the minister had made in Parliament. He then reduced the deadline to three days.

“One week is too long, he has 3 days to apologise,” he wrote.

The latest threats came before that shortened deadline had elapsed. Saleh’s appeal, as recounted by Kainerugaba, did not end the confrontation.

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