Uganda’s State Minister for Local Government, Justine Nameere, has publicly endorsed Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba for president, days after the two became embroiled in a heated public dispute.
Nameere made her position known on Wednesday when she visited the Patriotic League of Uganda (PLU) offices and signed a book backing Kainerugaba’s anticipated presidential bid.
Her endorsement came as a seven-day deadline issued by Kainerugaba for her to apologise was due to expire.
Nameere did not offer a direct apology during her remarks, instead explaining her support by pointing to a long-standing relationship with the Chief of Defence Forces.
“Today is a special day for me,” Nameere said, recalling that she first met Kainerugaba while she was at university.
She said the two worked together on several assignments for President Yoweri Museveni and that she had supported Kainerugaba long before he became a prominent voice in national politics.
Nameere said she had defended him at a time when some government figures were questioning whether he was being prepared to succeed his father.
She recalled joining Shafik Ssebunnya, Jordan, Frank Mwesigwa and others in defending Kainerugaba during that period.
According to Nameere, those interactions helped establish a close political relationship that influenced her decision to endorse his presidential ambitions.
“I am a very convicted person. I don’t just follow like a fool,” she said. “I ask why and why not, and I ask fearlessly.”
She said her decision to support Kainerugaba was based on what she described as personal, patriotic, national and international considerations.
Nameere also rejected any suggestion that backing Kainerugaba meant abandoning Museveni, whom she continues to support.
“Of course, I still support Jajja Museveni, and as long as he is still here, we are still moving with him,” she said, adding that she saw no contradiction between the two positions.
The endorsement follows a public disagreement that erupted after a shortened video appeared to show Nameere warning Kainerugaba against confronting legislators from the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM).
A longer version of the recording subsequently indicated that Nameere had been addressing PLU secretary general Daudi Kabanda rather than Kainerugaba.
Kainerugaba responded by warning that Nameere could be removed from Cabinet if she “misbehaved”.
He later gave her seven days to apologise and said “nothing will save her” if she failed to do so.
He also threatened to campaign in Masaka against her in favour of another candidate. Kabanda subsequently questioned Nameere’s victory in the Masaka City Woman MP election.
The dispute came after an earlier controversy involving another edited video, which Nameere said had wrongly linked her to a planned celebration for former Speaker Anita Among.
Nameere rejected that interpretation and accused unnamed individuals of using manipulated footage to damage her relationship with Kainerugaba.
Her appearance at the PLU offices on Wednesday, followed by the endorsement, marks a significant shift in the public tone between the two politicians.
