The Commander of Defence Forces (CDF), Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, and the Minister of ICT and National Guidance, Dr Chris Baryomunsi, are currently not seeing eye to eye, following a heated public exchange on social media.
The two government heavyweights have been trading jabs on X (formerly Twitter) in a bitter online confrontation that has sparked massive debate among Ugandans.
The exchange began after Dr Baryomunsi made posts suggesting that he is self-made and rose through government based on merit rather than personal favours.
Gen Muhoozi quickly fired back, accusing Baryomunsi of being a traitor and warning that he would not return to Cabinet unless he first made peace with him.
“It doesn’t matter. You will not be Minister this time. First come and make peace with me,” Muhoozi responded to Baryomunsi’s post.
Baryomunsi, however, stood his ground, insisting that his political journey was built on hard work and personal discipline, not connections.
“I rose from obscurity to where I am because of my abilities, not favours from anybody. I am self-made. Being a minister is not necessarily the best thing in life. My horizon is far beyond that. Let’s serve Uganda,” Baryomunsi wrote.
He went even further and got personal, crediting his upbringing for shaping his character and lifestyle.
“My father trained me to believe in myself. He restrained me from taking alcohol. I am sober 24/7 and focused. He let me free and I don’t suffer from Peter Pan Syndrome. Those attacking me on Twitter/X don’t know the material we the original Bakiga are made of. Go slow,” he added.
The online clash follows Baryomunsi’s recent appearance on Capital Gang, a political talk show on Capital FM, where he admitted that Muhoozi’s frequent social media posts were making his job harder as a government spokesperson.
During the show, Baryomunsi revealed that the CDF’s tweets often create contradictions and confusion, especially when he is trying to defend the NRM government both locally and internationally.