KAMPALA, October 2, 2026 — Chief of Defence Forces Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba has given Minister of Water and Environment Maj Gen (Rtd) Kahinda Otafiire three days to apologise over remarks he says the veteran general made against him in Parliament.
Gen Muhoozi issued the ultimatum in a series of posts on X on Friday, initially giving Otafiire one week to apologise before shortening the deadline to three days.
“I hear my junior MG. Otafiire made some statements in parliament against me. I’m giving him exactly 1 week to apologise to me or else he will see,” Gen Muhoozi posted.
He later revised the deadline, writing: “One week is too long, he has 3 days to apologise.”
Gen Muhoozi also criticised Otafiire over what he described as a lack of respect, saying: “When old men like Otafiire refuse to respect us they become nuisances. We will send them to an old people’s home.”
The posts came shortly after Otafiire, during his maiden address to Parliament as Minister of Water and Environment, called for political tolerance and peaceful resolution of disagreements.
While presenting a statement on the performance of the Water and Environment sector for the financial year 2025/26 on September 30, Otafiire departed from his ministerial brief to speak about political disagreements and the need to avoid violence.
“When you see a general who prefers violence as the best means of solving problems, then there is a problem. The greatest generals I know of are those who resolve problems without shooting a bullet,” Otafiire told MPs.
He also urged members of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) to tolerate political opponents, describing the opposition as a “mirror of reflection” for the ruling party.
“You never see how beautiful your face is, or how ugly your face is, until you look into the mirror. And colleagues on the NRM side, this opposition is our mirror reflection,” he said.
Otafiire further argued that political disagreements should be resolved through dialogue and tolerance rather than force.
“The hallmark of civilisation 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.
Otafiire did not name Gen Muhoozi in the parliamentary remarks, and it was not immediately clear which specific statements Gen Muhoozi considered to have been directed against him.
The public exchange has brought attention to the relationship between two senior military figures, with Otafiire being a veteran of Uganda’s liberation struggle and Gen Muhoozi serving as the country’s CDF.
As of Friday evening, Otafiire had not publicly responded to Gen Muhoozi’s revised three-day deadline.
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