Chief of Defence Forces Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba has dramatically escalated his public clash with businessman Odrek Rwabwogo, threatening to arrest him, questioning his place in the First Family and announcing the immediate dissolution of the Presidential Advisory Council on Exports and Industrial Development (PACEID).
In a series of explosive statements, Gen Muhoozi accused Rwabwogo of criminal conduct, demanded that millions of dollars reportedly intended for PACEID be redirected to the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF), and declared that PACEID’s functions would be taken over by Operation Wealth Creation (OWC).
“Ministry of Finance is advised to send all the $14 million they wanted to give the criminal Odrek to UPDF. We will build more accommodation for soldiers with it,” Gen Muhoozi said.
The CDF then announced the end of PACEID as an organisation, saying its budget, responsibilities and functions would immediately be transferred to OWC.
“We are officially dissolving PACEID as an organisation. All it’s functions, budgets and responsibilities will be taken over by Operation Wealth Creation. This starts immediately. The status of Odrek is being discussed. We will discipline so called ‘Brothers in law’ too,” he said.
The declaration marks a dramatic escalation in the increasingly public feud involving Rwabwogo, who is married to President Museveni’s daughter, Bishop Patience.
Gen Muhoozi also turned the dispute deeply personal, saying he had never accepted Rwabwogo as his brother-in-law.
“Odrek was forced upon me by my parents. I NEVER approved of him. I approved of Edwin Karugire. Edwin is the ONLY brother in law I have. He is the ONLY one I know. Parents must learn to listen to the voices of their sons,” Gen Muhoozi said.
He subsequently warned Rwabwogo against relying on his marriage to Patience Museveni for protection.
“If Odrek thinks hiding behind my sister will save him, he is joking!” the CDF declared.
But it was his threat of arrest that delivered the most striking escalation.
“As Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, I will arrest the criminal Odrek soon and bring peace to our people,” Gen Muhoozi said.
$14 MILLION FIGHT
At the centre of the latest confrontation is a reported $14 million allocation that Gen Muhoozi says the Ministry of Finance intended to give Rwabwogo.
Rather than allowing the money to go to PACEID, Gen Muhoozi wants the funds channelled to the UPDF, saying the money could be used to improve accommodation for soldiers.
His intervention could trigger a fresh debate over the intended purpose of the funds, the authority responsible for approving them and whether they were actually allocated to PACEID as claimed.
Gen Muhoozi has not, in the statements, provided details of the alleged criminal offences he attributes to Rwabwogo.
PACEID TO OWC
The CDF’s announcement that PACEID is being dissolved also raises questions about the future of the institution, its programmes, staff, funding and ongoing initiatives.
According to Gen Muhoozi, all PACEID functions, budgets and responsibilities will now fall under OWC, with the change taking effect immediately.
“We are officially dissolving PACEID as an organisation,” he said.
The announcement comes against the backdrop of an increasingly bitter public disagreement between Gen Muhoozi and Rwabwogo that has moved beyond personal differences into questions about government programmes, public funding and institutional authority.
‘BROTHERS-IN-LAW’ WARNING
Gen Muhoozi also broadened his warning beyond Rwabwogo, promising action against what he called “so called ‘Brothers in law’.”
“The status of Odrek is being discussed. We will discipline so called ‘Brothers in law’ too,” he said.
The remarks are particularly striking because Rwabwogo is married into the Museveni family, making the dispute an unusually public clash within Uganda’s politically powerful First Family.
Gen Muhoozi’s latest statements now put Rwabwogo’s political and institutional future under a sharper spotlight, while his threat of arrest raises questions over what action, if any, will follow.
For Rwabwogo, the confrontation has moved from a dispute over an institution and its funding into an extraordinary public showdown with the country’s military chief.
And Gen Muhoozi has now made his position unmistakable: PACEID should go, its functions should move to OWC, its reported $14 million funding should go to the UPDF—and he says he intends to arrest Rwabwogo.
Odrek Rwabwogo’s Assistant remains in the basement, with Odrek telling Muhoozi to go to court after he met Museveni. (See Details Here and There).
