Who Will Bell the Cat?

Belling the Cat is a fable in which a group of mice, tired of being mauled by the fat cat, agree to attach a bell to its neck to warn of its approach - but none has the courage to approach

Greek fabulist and storyteller Aesop gifted the universe with many fables that strike the right chords in daily happenings anywhere in the world. For Uganda, Aesop's "Bell the Cat" is chiming eerily.

Belling the Cat is a fable in which a group of mice, tired of being mauled by the fat cat, agree to attach a bell to its neck to warn of its approach. However, they fail to find a volunteer to perform the job. Every mouse is too afraid for its own life to approach the whiskers of the cat.

Makindye East MP Derrick Nyeko has warned the Chief of Defence Forces, General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, that he is not above the law and must be held accountable for his social media utterances.

Gen. Muhoozi, also the First Son, has raised the decibels on his social media actions. It has gotten ugly, with threats to behead, hang, and whatnot—just one of which posts on X (formerly known as Twitter) would have gotten his account suspended if the mice on the microblogging site still knew how to bell users.

But X has decided it no longer has the courage to bell the cat after Muhoozi went on a rampage on Friday, condemning opposition figures Kizza Besigye and Robert Kyagulanyi to death and vowing to arrest all the "clowns and fools" in Parliament.

"I will never appear before parliamentary clowns," the 'Tweeting General' posted on X. "Instead, I will arrest them all."

His response followed summons by Parliament's Committee on Defence and Internal Affairs after MPs demanded he appear before them to explain his social media posts.

Shadow Cabinet Minister Nyeko expressed concern about the damage these actions have caused to Uganda’s image, highlighting that the general’s rhetoric of violence further inflames an already tense political atmosphere.

“How can we allow such reckless statements from a man who holds the highest military office in Uganda?” Nyeko questioned during a heated debate in the committee.

But Gen. Muhoozi, only becoming more animated with his keyboard, warned of beheadings.

"After we kill Besigye, it will be the turn of some MPs. Their necks have grown too fat from stealing money from us. We will hang them!" he said.

"As for the beheading of Kabobi [Bobi Wine], it's still on. When he disappears one of these days, don't ask me a lot of questions."

But a defiant Nyeko appears to have a bit of courage to approach the whiskers of the cat with a semblance of a bell.

"Article 208 clearly states that the UPDF will be under civilian authority. Your presence is mandatory before us," Nyeko said.

"This is not a lawless jungle; this is a public office, and you will be held responsible for your actions."

As for the beheading of Kabobi, it's still on. When he disappears one of these days don't ask me alot of questions.

— Muhoozi Kainerugaba (@mkainerugaba) January 17, 2025

Two years ago, Gen. Muhoozi caused a stir when he threatened to capture the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, within two weeks. The post caused a diplomatic rift and drew an apology from his father, President Museveni, who also told the nation his son's social media use would be checked.

“I ask our Kenyan brothers and sisters to forgive us for tweets sent by General Muhoozi, former commander of land forces here, regarding the election matters in that great country.”

Mr Museveni said it is not right for public officers, be they civilian or military, to comment or interfere in any way in the internal affairs of brother countries.

But the President also promoted his son from Lieutenant to a full four-star General at the time. He dropped him from the post of Chief of Land Forces and redeployed him to head the elite Special Forces Command.

For some time, it looked like Mr. Museveni had kept his word as Muhoozi toned down. But he later returned to pick up from where he had left off, with regular posts about women and politics.

Muhoozi's social media actions could make for a rich thesis. It is difficult to predict what goes on. He has downplayed his actions and chided the world for becoming too stiff-jacketed to pick out his jokes.

But for a man in his position, threatening to deport the US Ambassador would certainly overreach the joke notes. Nobody goes around threatening to behead political opponents so casually and gets away with it.

While, at least for now, none of his words has materialized in action—including the threats to deal with former deputy CDF Lt. Gen. Peter Elwelu—they are too grave to be taken lightly.

Following his threats directed at Ambassador William Popp, US Mission officials met President Museveni at State House in a meeting also attended by the "deviant" 50-year-old Muhoozi.

Details of that meeting have never been revealed after the President reportedly warned that not a letter should reach even the fly on the wall.

Following that diplomatic meeting, Gen. Muhoozi appeared to have toned down. However, except for deactivating his account on January 10, there has been nothing to suggest an end to the speeding train in his tweets.

At 80, President Museveni is certainly softer on his son and is not expected to rein him in. It happens to any humans. But it also begs the question: Who is in charge of the nation today?

Earlier in the week, Gen Salim Saleh celebrated his 65th birthday from his adopted home in Gulu. It looked like the entire seat of power had converged there to celebrate his life.

The man born Caleb Akandanwaho is mostly pictured with a "katorch" phone and his penchant for writing letters like he is still living in the postal era all suggest what happens on X would only be of interest to him if it involved a threat against the government.

Lately, Muhoozi has vaguely hinted at Gulu, including warning anyone who ever abused his uncle to await their arrest.

If the cat cannot be belled, then that cat is in charge, and the mice must all be afraid—very afraid.

All the mice will keep asking now is, who will bell the cat?