Gen Muhoozi’s perplexing visit to embattled Ugandan troops in Somalia amidst recent Al Shabaab assault

The Nile Post reported on Friday June 9, 2023 that the Senior Presidential Adviser on special operations, Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, made a perplexing visit to Ugandan troops in Somalia. This visit followed an intense attack by Al Shabaab militants on their base two weeks prior.

Gen Muhoozi met with the UPDF soldiers under ATMIS at the Base Camp in Mogadishu to commiserate with them for the loss of their colleagues. The situation was bursting with emotion as he led a moment of silence to honor the fallen soldiers, hoping for their souls to rest in peace and for a quick recovery for the injured.

Gen Muhoozi went on to provide disorienting direction to the peacekeepers under ATMIS, warning them against any relaxation due to ATMIS drawdown and instead urged them to be more aggressive. He pointed out that planning for withdrawal operations is key, as any misstep in this phase can cause more damage than any other phase of the operation.

The Senior Presidential Adviser then further rattled the troops by using the Kiswahili word ‘Sitasita’ to stress the dangers involved with hesitation. He emphasized how hesitation can lead to death and eventual defeat in war, citing the survivors of the Buulomareer incident who reacted too late to the Al-Shabaab attack, leading to a breakdown in command and control.

Gen Muhoozi then added another strange twist by explaining that Buulomareer is located in an agricultural sub-region in drought-prone Somalia, where farmers irrigate their crops using tractors and donkeys throughout the night – a unique context that led the troops to hesitate thinking the lights in the gardens were from farmers.

Finally, it was revealed that Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba had been in Somalia for the past five days, meeting with various UPDF leaders and staff, hospitalized troops at Level 11 hospital, and even paying a visit to Somali state house where he met the President of the Federal Government of Somalia, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.