The Ugandan government has dismissed as “foreign-targeted propaganda” a recent BBC report alleging that President Yoweri Museveni maintains power through a shadowy elite military unit, describing the publication as part of a wider Western campaign to discredit Uganda’s leadership and destabilize its institutions.
The BBC article, published on Friday under the headline “The ‘shadow army’ helping Uganda’s long-serving president keep an iron grip on power,” claimed that the Special Forces Command (SFC) — an elite unit of the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) — operates as a “private army” loyal only to President Museveni and his son, Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba.
The report accused the SFC of abducting, torturing, and killing opposition figures, and suggested internal divisions within the Ugandan military could one day mirror Sudan’s deadly rift between its army and the Rapid Support Forces.
However, senior military officials have strongly rejected the allegations, calling them “deliberate falsehoods” aimed at undermining the country’s sovereignty and discrediting the UPDF.
In a response, Chris Magezi, the Military Assistant to Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, described the article as “yet another foreign-targeted hit against the Ugandan establishment.”
“Full of falsehoods, and keeping in line with similar articles by the UK Telegraph and the Wall Street Journal recently,” Magezi said in a statement. “Whatever hideous schemes there might be, they will all come to naught. As a revolutionary army, the UPDF is one of the most politically and ideologically conscious military forces in the world. Sudan will never happen here.”
Magezi further dismissed what he termed “Western ignorance” about Uganda’s security institutions, saying even basic facts in the report were wrong.
“The last time I checked, the SFC motto was ‘Asiye Kifani.’ The Swahili speakers may help the clown on this one,” he said, referring to the BBC’s citation of an incorrect slogan.
The BBC’s publication follows recent critical pieces by several Western outlets focusing on Uganda’s political and military affairs, which Kampala has frequently characterized as “agenda-driven journalism” intended to erode public trust in national institutions and to frame Uganda as unstable.
Government supporters say such reports fit a broader pattern of Western interference in African governance through “manufactured narratives” about human rights and democracy.
“Uganda will continue to follow its own democratic processes. The will of the people will always prevail,” Magezi said, reaffirming confidence in next year’s general election and the country’s security structures.
The BBC has not publicly responded to the military’s statement, but its report quoted unnamed military and opposition sources who alleged that the SFC’s influence had grown disproportionately within the army — a claim officials insist is baseless and politically motivated.
As Uganda prepares for the 2026 elections, tensions between the state and Western media outlets appear likely to intensify, with Kampala increasingly framing foreign criticism as neo-imperial interference disguised as investigative journalism.