Former Minister of State for Water Ronald Kibuule has likened Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba to a well-prepared prince waiting to take over the throne, as the Patriotic League of Uganda (PLU) stepped up its grassroots mobilisation in Mukono.
Kibuule made the remarks during the official launch of the PLU registration exercise at the Office of the President’s Gardens in Mukono Municipality, where he openly endorsed Gen. Kainerugaba for the presidency in 2031.
For Kibuule, the question is no longer whether Gen. Kainerugaba is prepared to assume national leadership, but when the transition will take place.
He portrayed the Chief of Defence Forces as a leader who has been preparing for the responsibility and said Uganda should expect a peaceful transfer of power from President Yoweri Museveni to Gen. Kainerugaba.
Kibuule further reached for an everyday analogy to describe what he sees as the role of Gen. Kainerugaba in Uganda’s political future, comparing him to a standby generator that comes on when the main power supply fails.
“It is the right time for the General to offer light and a new direction for this country. I therefore strongly endorse him for the presidency and call upon the rest of Ugandans to show him the kind of support he deserves,” Kibuule said.
His remarks add to a growing mobilisation campaign by PLU around Gen. Kainerugaba’s political ambitions. The organisation launched a nationwide endorsement drive earlier this month, with physical registration books being distributed across the country.
PLU says the exercise is aimed at gathering support for Gen. Kainerugaba ahead of the 2031 presidential election.
The Mukono launch also brought together a number of leaders associated with the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) and PLU, underscoring the increasingly visible overlap between the two political structures.
Jimmy Lwanga, the PLU Greater Mukono coordinator, used the occasion to praise President Museveni for what he described as providing direction to the country and nurturing a younger generation of leaders.
Lwanga said PLU activities had the backing of the President and called on NRM members to embrace Gen. Kainerugaba’s political ambitions.
He, however, cautioned those joining the movement against carrying political hostility and divisions into its structures.
“Everything PLU does has the President’s endorsement and we therefore call upon members of NRM to also join in support of Gen. MK. I only warn you to come purified, leave behind all sorts of hatred which lead to making the party candidates at parliamentary and local levels lose elections,” Lwanga said.
His comments point to an emerging message within the movement: that support for Gen. Kainerugaba should be built within, rather than outside, the NRM political establishment.
PLU has publicly maintained that it will remain a civic organisation, pressure group and social movement within the NRM rather than become a political party.
Sarah Daisy Nabatanzi, the PLU coordinator for women in Greater Mukono, said women were increasingly approaching her seeking registration as a demonstration of their support for Gen. Kainerugaba.
She pledged to mobilise more women to participate in the exercise, suggesting that the registration campaign is being positioned not simply as an organisational activity but also as a grassroots measure of support for the General.
The registration book being used by PLU bears similarities to the traditional NRM yellow book, giving the exercise a familiar organisational appearance to supporters of the ruling party.
Mukono Resident District Commissioner Fatumah Ndisaba Nabitaka also attended the launch and praised the turnout.
Nabitaka said she was particularly struck by the willingness of people to attend the gathering without demanding transport allowances, contrasting this with what she described as the practice at some NRM gatherings.
“Today’s gathering is a serious signal that people indeed love the General. We also promise to work with him to develop our country,” Nabitaka said.
Her remarks added an administrative voice to what was otherwise a strongly political gathering, where speakers repeatedly framed the mobilisation around Gen. Kainerugaba as a grassroots expression of support.
The bigger political picture
The Mukono registration exercise comes at a time when PLU is rapidly expanding its structures and public activities around Gen. Kainerugaba.
The organisation began distributing endorsement books nationally, while several political leaders have publicly endorsed the General for the 2031 presidency.
The campaign has also been accompanied by a broader effort to build PLU structures from regional and district levels down to grassroots networks.
PLU leaders have maintained that the organisation’s activities are currently an endorsement and mobilisation exercise rather than a formal presidential campaign.
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