Diplomacy took a strange turn last week after Ugandan Army Chief Muhoozi Kainerugaba publicly rolled out his bizarre demands to resolve differences with Turkey — USD 1 billion as “security dividend”, the most beautiful Turkish woman as a wife or else he will sever diplomatic relations with Ankara.
The demands may sound unusual to a sane mind but this is what Muhoozi Kainerugaba, son of Ugandan “dictator” Yoweri Museveni, has actually asked Turkey to begin talks on resolving the differences.
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The Ugandan Army chief has accused Turkey of profiting from infrastructure deals in Somalia while his troops have been protecting the African nation for nearly two decades from the al-Shabaab group.
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Citing this, Kainerugaba said Uganda should receive USD 1 billion as compensation. “On top of the $1 billion from Turkey, I want the most beautiful woman in that country for a wife,” he wrote in a series of posts on X.
In another post, he added, “If they do not address our problems, we will terminate all diplomatic relations with Turkey within the next 30 days.”
After the controversy, the posts have now been deleted and the general reposted a clarification from Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Uganda to the United Nations, Adonia Ayebare.
“Tweets by @mkainerugaba on Türkiye are a reflection of dissatisfaction with the way Uganda’s serious concerns have been handled. Uganda values its partnerships with our Turkish Friends but not at the expense of our sovereignty. Uganda looks forward to good faith talks aimed at resolving our concerns which I am sure @mkainerugaba supports. There should be no cause for alarm,” the Ugandan diplomat said.
Kainerugaba later said he loves the 86 million “brothers and sisters” in Turkey. “I love the 86 million brothers and sisters in Turkey. Twitter insults mean nothing to me. We send all Turkish people love from Uganda,” he added.
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