Gen Muhoozi supports President Kagame’s statement on economic sanctions

By The Inspirer.

The Chief of Defense Forces of Uganda, Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, has expressed support for President Paul Kagame, who stated that he would rather face sanctions than allow Rwanda’s security to be compromised.

In an interview with Jeune Afrique, journalist François Soudan asked President Kagame to comment on Belgium, the United Kingdom, and Germany, which have indicated the possibility of suspending aid to Rwanda and imposing sanctions.

This issue is based on allegations from these European countries that accuse Rwanda of deploying troops to the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

President Kagame explained that the eastern DRC is home to the genocidal militia group FDLR, which collaborates with the Congolese army and still harbors intentions to attack Rwanda.

He recalled that in 2019, the FDLR launched an attack in Musanze District, killing 14 civilians. They carried out further attacks in March, May, and June 2022, using heavy weapons supplied by the Congolese army.

These attacks occurred three years after President Félix Tshisekedi claimed that the FDLR no longer existed and was just a “figment of the imagination,” as President Kagame explained in the interview.

President Kagame emphasized that Belgium and Germany bear responsibility for this issue, as they were the colonial powers in the Great Lakes region of Africa. He asserted that they could not intimidate him.

He said, “Some countries, such as Belgium and Germany, which were former colonizers, are trying to threaten us with sanctions just because I am standing up for my rights. Do they really think they can intimidate me?”

The President continued, “Let it be clear: if I had to choose between security threats and sanctions, I would take up arms and fight against anything that seeks to harm me, without worrying about sanctions.”

He also referenced a story about an elderly woman facing killers during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. When given a choice about how she would die, she chose to spit in their faces. “You can imagine how many times I would spit in the faces of those who ask me to choose the way I should perish,” he said.

In a post on the social media platform X on the night of February 12, 2025, Gen Muhoozi praised President Kagame’s response to those threatening him, calling it a brilliant statement.

“This is what is called brilliance,” said Muhoozi, who is also the son of Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni and serves as his senior advisor on special military operations.

On February 8, leaders of the East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) met in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and concluded that the crisis in eastern DRC and the tensions between Rwanda and the DRC should be resolved through political dialogue.

Meanwhile, the Catholic Archbishop of Kinshasa, Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo, told worshippers on February 9 that what is needed to resolve the crisis in eastern DRC is not sanctions but negotiations aimed at achieving lasting peace.