Uganda Army Chief Restricts Ministers’ Travel

Uganda’s Chief of Defence Forces, Muhoozi Kainerugaba, has announced a new directive barring government ministers from travelling abroad without his personal approval, threatening violators with a 30 million shilling fine.

It follows Kainerugaba’s claim that the country’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Haruna Kasolo, visited Turkey without permission. Uganda recently cut military ties with Turkey.

In a post on X, President Yoweri Museveni’s son said any minister who leaves Uganda without his permission will be fined the amount, with proceeds channelled into road construction. He directed the Ministry of Finance to enforce the order immediately, adding that he would personally review and clear ministers’ travel requests monthly.

The directive is the latest in a string of unilateral pronouncements from Gen. Kainerugaba targeting government officials, a pattern that has become a hallmark of his frequent social media activity. He has previously used the platform to criticise ministers over official convoys, warn officials he considers corrupt, and weigh in on matters of state typically reserved for the presidency or cabinet.

It remains unclear what legal authority underpins the new travel-fine order, given that oversight of ministerial conduct and government finances ordinarily falls under the Office of the President, Cabinet, and Parliament, not the military.

Gen. Kainerugaba, who also serves as a senior presidential adviser, has increasingly used his social media platform to issue instructions on governance matters, drawing both support from loyalists and criticism from those who see the posts as an overreach of military authority into civilian administration.