After more than a decade of silence and simmering tension, Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) General Muhoozi Kainerugaba is taking the first public step toward reconciliation with his once fiercest critic — retired General David Tinyefuza Sejusa.
In a symbolic move grounded in forgiveness and healing, Gen Muhoozi has announced a long-anticipated meeting with Sejusa, scheduled to take place in two weeks, under the supervision of President Yoweri Museveni, who also serves as Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces.
“I have made peace in my heart with General Tinyefuza. After all the injury he heaped on me for many years, I forgive him. I will meet him under the supervision of the Commander-in-Chief in exactly two weeks!,” Gen Muhoozi posted on social media.
The planned encounter could mark the formal end of one of Uganda’s most controversial military-political fallouts a rift sparked in 2013 when Gen Sejusa, then serving as Coordinator of Intelligence Services, authored a now-infamous memo.
In that document, Sejusa alleged the existence of a clandestine succession scheme dubbed the “Muhoozi Project”, claiming there was a plan to groom then-Brigadier Muhoozi to succeed his father as president.
The memo warned that senior military and political figures who opposed the plot risked intimidation or even elimination.
The explosive claims reverberated across Uganda’s political landscape, eventually forcing Sejusa into self-imposed exile in the United Kingdom, citing threats to his life. The letter’s leak to the press triggered widespread speculation and internal military unease.
Upon his return in 2014, Sejusa met privately with President Museveni, but no public reconciliation with Gen Muhoozi followed until now.
The government swiftly dismissed the allegations at the time. President Museveni denounced the memo’s contents, describing them as “a diversion”, and reiterated that the country’s leadership would be chosen solely through democratic means. Government spokesperson Fred Opolot, speaking to Voice of America, labelled the claims as “untrue.”
Yet despite the controversy, Gen Muhoozi’s recent tone suggests a readiness to move beyond the past and embrace forgiveness a sentiment rarely aired in Uganda’s often rigid political circles.
His decision to forgive and seek dialogue with Sejusa is being interpreted by some analysts as a show of strength and maturity — a desire to restore unity at the highest levels of Uganda’s security establishment.
While the details of the upcoming meeting remain confidential, the very fact that it’s happening at all is significant. For many observers, this moment isn’t just about two men resolving a personal dispute — it may represent the healing of an ideological wound that, for years, symbolized deeper divisions within Uganda’s power structure.
Whether the meeting results in full reconciliation or simply mutual closure, it already marks a rare act of public forgiveness in a country where political disagreements often run deep — and long.
