Uganda’s 2031 presidential race may still be years away, but the political machinery around Chief of Defence Forces Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba is already gathering momentum, with former Vice-President Prof. Gilbert Bukenya becoming one of the latest high-profile figures to publicly throw his weight behind the military chief.
Bukenya endorsed Kainerugaba during a gathering at the Patriotic League of Uganda (PLU) secretariat, where serving National Resistance Movement (NRM) legislators, former MPs, business leaders and other prominent Ugandans assembled to express support for Kainerugaba’s presidential ambitions.
In his remarks, Bukenya described Kainerugaba as the best candidate to lead Uganda into the future.
The endorsement is significant because Bukenya is a veteran political figure who served as Uganda’s Vice-President and has spent decades at the centre of the country’s political establishment.
His public backing adds another prominent name to the growing group of Ugandans openly supporting Kainerugaba ahead of the 2031 presidential election.
The gathering also marked the official launch of the PLU website, an online platform the organisation says will help coordinate its activities, communicate with supporters and strengthen mobilisation ahead of the next general election.
Among those present was Deputy Speaker of Parliament Thomas Tayebwa, alongside several political leaders and supporters of the Muhoozi campaign.
FORMER LEGISLATORS JOIN THE PUSH
The endorsement campaign was not limited to serving MPs.
Former NRM legislators, including Musa Echweru and Mike Mukula, were also among those who publicly backed Kainerugaba.
For Echweru, the endorsement carries a personal dimension.
The former legislator, who has been associated with the Arrow Boys, recalled his previous experiences working alongside Kainerugaba during the conflict involving Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army.
Echweru said his support was informed partly by the experience of working with Kainerugaba during that period.
His remarks offered a glimpse into the personal relationships that are now being brought into the political campaign as supporters attempt to build a broader coalition around the CDF.
BUSINESS HEAVYWEIGHTS ENTER THE PICTURE
The gathering also attracted prominent businessmen Godfrey Kirumira and Sudhir Ruparelia, whose endorsement added a powerful business dimension to the growing campaign.
PLU publicly thanked the two businessmen for joining its cause and backing Kainerugaba.
“Thank you Mr. Godfrey Kirumira and Mr. Sudhir Ruparelia for joining our cause and endorsing Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba as the next President of Uganda,” PLU said.
The organisation described their support as an expression of confidence in Kainerugaba’s leadership and vision.
The appearance of high-profile business figures alongside politicians and former combatants underscores the effort by Kainerugaba’s supporters to present his political project as one capable of attracting people from different sections of Ugandan society.
MUHOOZI CONFIRMS 2031 AMBITION
Kainerugaba has himself said that he intends to appear on the ballot in the 2031 presidential election.
He has also said President Yoweri Museveni, his father and Uganda’s president since 1986, would serve as his chief campaign manager.
The declaration has intensified discussion about the possibility of a transition within the ruling establishment from Museveni to his son.
However, the 2031 election remains several years away, and the final political field, alliances and electoral circumstances will only become clearer with time.
Beyond the endorsements, PLU is now moving to build a more structured grassroots mobilisation operation.
Minister for Kampala Capital City and Metropolitan Affairs Minsa Kabanda launched the organisation’s signature collection drive in support of Kainerugaba.
Daudi Kabanda, head of the PLU National Chairman’s office, formally handed registration books to the minister to facilitate the exercise.
Kabanda praised Minsa Kabanda for becoming the first sitting Cabinet minister to publicly endorse Kainerugaba’s initiative.
The minister has been tasked with coordinating the signature drive across Kampala’s five divisions — Kampala Central, Kawempe, Makindye, Nakawa and Rubaga.
She said the exercise would begin in Kampala before expanding into the wider Buganda region.
Importantly, Kabanda pledged that the signatures would be subjected to verification at village and parish level, with single-person registration intended to prevent duplication.
The model is expected to be replicated in other districts as the mobilisation campaign expands.
‘NRM AND PLU ARE ONE’
Minsa Kabanda also addressed an issue that has increasingly featured in Uganda’s political conversation: the relationship between PLU and the ruling NRM.
She said President Museveni was aware of her support for Kainerugaba and her involvement in PLU activities.
Kabanda insisted that her participation should not be interpreted as abandoning the NRM.
Instead, she argued that NRM and PLU are united and should work together.
That message could prove important as Kainerugaba’s supporters attempt to expand his political network without creating an open confrontation with the established structures of the ruling party.
For now, the signs point to an increasingly organised campaign.
From a former Vice-President to serving MPs, former legislators, Cabinet officials, businessmen and former combatants, a growing collection of influential Ugandans is publicly associating itself with Kainerugaba’s 2031 ambitions.
The PLU website launch and signature drive suggest that the movement is also shifting from individual endorsements towards building a more permanent mobilisation structure.
With the 2031 election still on the horizon, the political question is no longer simply whether Muhoozi Kainerugaba intends to run.
He has said he does.
The bigger question now is how far the growing network of supporters around him can expand — and what it could mean for the future leadership of Uganda.
