First son and commander of Land Forces Lt. Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba announced his retirement from the army on social media yesterday.
Muhoozi’s tweet took many by surprise, fueling speculation that “it’s official, he is joining politics.”
Why his retirement announcement irregular?
For starters, no army officer has ever announced his/her retirement on social media. It is always done by the army spokesperson.
Secondly, according to Muhoozi’s tweet, he claimed to have served in the army for 28 years. But for a person who, according to records, joined the army in 1999, it should be 23 years of service.
Muhoozi gave no reason why he is opting out of the army, so we are yet to establish whether it’s a retirement or a resignation.
According to the UPDF ACT section 66(1), “An officer may in writing tender the resignation of his or her commission to the board but shall not, unless otherwise ordered by the Chief of Defence Forces, be relieved of the duties of his or her appointment until he or she has received notification, in writing, of the approval of his or her resignation by the board,” On the other hand, section 66(2) says that the board has 90 days in which to respond to the application.
And when it comes to retirement, from the rank of Second Lieutenant to General, an officer can rightly apply for retirement after 14 years of service while the lower ranks can retire at nine years according to retirement rules.
It is not clear whether indeed Muhoozi retired as per the UPDF laws.
Defence Spokesperson Felix Kulayigye on Tuesday noted that he had not yet been briefed about Muhoozi’s decision to quit the army and would not comment on the issue.