Muhoozi Kainerugaba, son of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, has announced plans to contest the country’s presidency in 2031, ending months of speculation over whether he would seek to succeed his father.
Kainerugaba, 52, made the declaration in a series of posts on X on Tuesday, saying he intended to contest for what he described as “the highest office in the land.” “I will stand for the highest office in the land in 2031. And we will win by the grace of Almighty God,” he said.
The announcement places Kainerugaba, who heads Uganda’s army and the Patriotic League of Uganda, a political pressure group, firmly in the succession conversation after years of being regarded as a potential successor to Museveni.
He also indicated that his father would support his campaign, saying Museveni would serve as his campaign manager and predicting he would secure 90 per cent of the vote. “Mzee will be my campaign manager,” Kainerugaba said. “Mzee” is an honorific commonly used in Uganda to refer to Museveni.
Kainerugaba had previously expressed an intention to contest the 2026 presidential election but later withdrew and backed his father, who subsequently won the election.
Museveni, 81, has ruled Uganda for more than four decades and has overseen constitutional changes that removed presidential age and term limits, allowing him to remain eligible for successive elections. Whether Museveni will seek another term in 2031 remains unclear, leaving Kainerugaba’s declaration as an early indication of how the country’s next presidential succession could unfold.
