Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the chief of defense forces, has abruptly removed two of Uganda’s most senior immigration officials following a high-stakes standoff over the citizenship rights of the country’s ethnic Banyarwanda community.
The purge, which saw Maj. Gen. Apollo Kasiita-Gowa and Brig. Johnson Namanya Abaho recalled to military headquarters this week, marks an aggressive intervention by the general into a civil dispute that has simmered for years.
At the heart of the row is the refusal by immigration authorities to issue passports to Ugandans of Rwandan descent, despite the group being recognized as an indigenous tribe in the national constitution.
“I have decided to remove all the officers in immigration that were making life hard for our Ugandan-Banyarwanda to get IDs immediately, Kainerugaba wrote in a statement on X. Others will be appointed soon.
The removals follow a January executive order by President Yoweri Museveni intended to protect the community’s rights to documentation. For years, the Banyarwanda have reported systemic hurdles, including the confiscation of national IDs and the denial of passports by officials who often cited security concerns or questioned their lineage.
Internal government memos suggest the two generals were recalled after failing to implement the president’s directives to streamline passport access for the group. The community, organized under the umbrella body Umubano, had recently threatened to withhold political support for the ruling party if the discrimination persisted.
The move by Kainerugaba, the president’s son and widely considered a potential successor, signals a hardening of his role as an enforcer of executive policy. While supporters view the intervention as a victory for civil rights, the sudden recall of high-ranking military officers from a civilian ministry underscores the shifting power dynamics within Uganda’s security state.
General Gowa confirmed his departure in a memo to staff, stating that his tour of duty had ended and he would await new responsibilities at the Mbuya defense headquarters. The immigration office is now expected to undergo a significant restructuring as the government attempts to reconcile strict border controls with constitutional citizenship guarantees.
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