Africa & World
‘Pack your bags and get out,’ Uganda army chief orders Turkish nationals to leave country
Uganda’s Chief of Defence Forces, General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, has declared that he has cut all ties with Turkish interests in Uganda and urged Turkish nationals to leave the country, while directing his political supporters to stage a demonstration outside the Turkish Embassy in Kampala on…
Picture: Zambia Monitor
Uganda’s Chief of Defence Forces, General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, has declared that he has cut all ties with Turkish interests in Uganda and urged Turkish nationals to leave the country, while directing his political supporters to stage a demonstration outside the Turkish Embassy in Kampala on September 18.
In a series of posts on X on Wednesday, Kainerugaba said Turkish nationals should “pack their bags” and leave Uganda, signalling a fresh escalation in his long-running dispute with Turkey.
“I have already severed anything to do with the Turks in Uganda. They should pack their bags as soon as possible and get out of our country,” he wrote, according to Azernews
Hours later, the army chief announced plans for a protest outside the Turkish Embassy, placing Patriotic League of Uganda (PLU) official Fadhil in charge of organising the demonstration.
“We are demonstrating in full force at the Turkish Embassy on the 18th of September… My order will not change this time. Instead we will arrest ANY Turkish agent who says anything different!” Kainerugaba wrote.
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The PLU, chaired by Kainerugaba, confirmed the mobilisation through supporters who responded to the posts.
Neither Uganda’s Foreign Ministry nor President Yoweri Museveni, Kainerugaba’s father, had issued an official statement on the matter by Wednesday.
The latest remarks revive a diplomatic row that has simmered for months between Kainerugaba and Turkey.
In April, he demanded US$1 billion from Ankara over Uganda’s military role in Somalia and threatened to shut down the Turkish Embassy and suspend Turkish Airlines operations in Uganda.
In June, he claimed Uganda had cancelled a multi-billion-dollar Standard Gauge Railway contract with Turkish construction firm Yapi Merkezi.
He also ordered Turkish citizens to leave the country within 30 days and called for demonstrations outside the Turkish Embassy, although the protests were later postponed.
The dispute has largely centred on Uganda’s demand that Turkey extradite or expel Fred Lumbuye, a Ugandan government critic living abroad.
Despite Kainerugaba’s latest pronouncements, there has been no official government directive expelling Turkish nationals or severing diplomatic relations with Turkey.
Although he serves as Uganda’s top military commander and senior presidential adviser, decisions on foreign policy and diplomatic relations remain the responsibility of the Ugandan government.
His latest posts, however, underscore growing tensions and set the stage for a planned protest outside the Turkish Embassy later this month.
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