Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba decrees SFC will guard all presidential candidates

Uganda’s political landscape is bracing for significant shifts ahead of the 2026 presidential elections, following a directive from the Chief of Defense Force (CDF), Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba. The son of President Yoweri Museveni, Gen. Kainerugaba, has declared that only the elite Special Forces Command (SFC) will be responsible for the security of all presidential candidates.

In a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter), Gen. Kainerugaba asserted, “I have said it once and for all, ALL Presidential Candidates will be guarded ONLY by SFC! Any personal arrangements that do not concur with our standard operating procedures (SOPs) will be smashed immediately.” This emphatic declaration leaves no room for alternative security arrangements for those vying for the country’s top office.

The Special Forces Command is an elite unit within Uganda’s military, primarily tasked with protecting the President, the First Family, and critical national assets, including oil and gas installations. However, the SFC has long been a subject of scrutiny and criticism, often accused by observers and opposition figures of maintaining a loyalty more akin to President Museveni and his family than to the broader interests of the nation.

The directive is widely anticipated to trigger a strong backlash from opposition political groups. While they have yet to issue formal responses, the concerns are palpable. Critics argue that having SFC soldiers, perceived as deeply loyal to the ruling establishment, guard opposition candidates could compromise their campaigns, facilitate surveillance, and potentially intimidate their movements and interactions. This raises serious questions about the fairness and integrity of the upcoming electoral process.

As Uganda gears up for the January 2026 presidential vote, political parties, including the dominant National Resistance Movement (NRM), are in the final stages of preparing for what promises to be a keenly contested election. Gen. Kainerugaba’s announcement introduces a new, potentially contentious element into the pre-election period, setting the stage for increased friction between the state and opposition forces.

The coming days will likely reveal the full extent of the political fallout as opposition leaders weigh their responses to a directive that fundamentally alters the security landscape for presidential contenders, raising profound questions about independence, trust, and the democratic process in Uganda.