Thirteen years after retired General David Sejusa raised controversial allegations about a plan to prepare Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba to succeed his father, President Yoweri Museveni, Uganda is once again witnessing the succession debate take centre stage. What was famously described as the “Muhoozi Project” in 2013 has returned to national political discussions following Museveni’s latest moves involving his son’s possible presidential ambitions.
The controversy dates back to April 2013, when Sejusa, then a senior intelligence coordinator, wrote a letter calling for investigations into allegations that there was a plan to eliminate government and military officials considered obstacles to Muhoozi’s possible rise to the presidency. Among the senior figures mentioned in the allegations were then Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi, Gen Aronda Nyakairima and Sejusa himself.
The letter became public through a Daily Monitor report in May 2013, triggering a major confrontation between the government and the media. Police later surrounded Monitor Publications’ offices, forcing Daily Monitor, KFM and Dembe FM off air for 11 days as investigators searched for the disputed letter. Sejusa subsequently left Uganda for the United Kingdom, where he continued criticising the government before eventually returning in December 2014.
At the time, both Museveni and Muhoozi distanced themselves from suggestions that the young general was being prepared to take over the presidency. Muhoozi, who was then serving in the UPDF, dismissed the alleged project as non-existent, while Museveni maintained that his son was focused on his military career rather than immediate political ambitions.
However, Muhoozi’s public profile continued growing over the years as he rose through the military ranks, eventually becoming Chief of Defence Forces. His political supporters also became increasingly vocal about his future ambitions, with the Patriotic League of Uganda (PLU) emerging as a platform associated with his political activities. In September 2026, Kasambya County MP Daudi Kabanda publicly announced that Muhoozi intended to contest the 2031 presidential election.
The succession debate took another significant turn on October 27, 2026, when Museveni presented a paper to the NRM Central Executive Committee (CEC) at State House Entebbe, discussing the question of the movement’s leadership beyond 2031. In the document, the President acknowledged growing support for Muhoozi’s possible candidature and invited party leaders to assess his suitability for the country’s highest office.
In an especially significant statement, Museveni openly defended his son, saying he knew him to excel on most of the leadership considerations because he was his father, a resistance fighter and the person who encouraged him to join the army. He also defended Muhoozi’s controversial social media posts, arguing that their underlying message often concerned Uganda, Africa and the continent’s future. Meanwhile, Muhoozi later instructed PLU supporters to stop publicly debating the succession paper and concentrate on grassroots endorsements.
The developments have revived memories of Sejusa’s 2013 allegations, with many Ugandans drawing comparisons between what he raised more than a decade ago and the current succession discussions. Although the latest developments do not establish all the allegations contained in Sejusa’s letter, particularly the alleged assassination plot, the question of whether Muhoozi could succeed his father is now being openly discussed within the ruling establishment. Thirteen years later, what was once dismissed as the non-existent Muhoozi Project has become one of Uganda’s biggest political conversations.
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