Uganda’s military has severed all military cooperation with Germany after it accused Berlin’s ambassador to Kampala of involvement in “subversive activities” in the country, its spokesperson said.
A spokesperson for Germany’s foreign ministry said at a press conference in Berlin on Monday that the accusations were “absurd and without any merit and we reject them in the strongest terms”
The spokesperson declined to comment further on the nature of the accusations.
“The Uganda People’s Defence Forces has with immediate effect suspended all ongoing defence and military cooperation activities with the Federal Republic of Germany,” UPDF spokesperson Chris Magezi said in a statement posted on X platform on Sunday.
The decision was “in response to credible intelligence reports that the current German Ambassador to Uganda His Excellency Mathias Schauer is actively engaged in subversive activities in the country”, Magezi said.
Magezi gave no details of any existing military cooperation between Uganda and Germany.
The German spokesperson said there was no formalised military cooperation between the two countries.
Uganda has its troops in the African Union peacekeeping force in Somalia, Aussom, which is partly funded by the European Union, of which Germany is a member.
In a post on the X platform on Sunday, Uganda’s military chief Muhoozi Kainerugaba said the army was having problems with Schauer as a person.
“It has to do with him as a person. He is wholly unqualified to be in Uganda. It has nothing to do with the great German people,” said Kainerugaba.
The spokesperson for Uganda’s ministry of foreign affairs could not be reached for comment as her phone was switched off.
Kainerugaba, the son of President Yoweri Museveni and widely seen as heir apparent, is widely known for his inflammatory posts on social media which have included threats to Western diplomats in Kampala.
This month he warned the EU was “playing with fire” after a group of EU ambassadors met officials from Uganda’s largest opposition party including its leader, pop star-turned-politician, Bobi Wine.
Several opposition politicians and supporters have been arrested in Uganda over reports that they are involved in subversive activities.
Veteran opposition politician Kizza Besigye is currently facing treason charges in court. Security agencies have warned opposition politicians against causing chaos as the country prepares for general elections scheduled for early next year.
The opposition has protested the arrests, saying they are facing trumped-up charges.
