Uganda’s president, in office for nearly four decades, has appointed his son to head the country’s military, stoking long-held suspicions in the East African country that the leader is grooming his son to one day succeed him.

The President Yoweri Museveni said late Thursday that he had appointed his son, General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, 49, as the country’s top army commander. General Kainerugaba had served and been his father’s senior advisor Participation in large rallies across the country to position himself as heir to the throne – even as experts say the 79-year-old Museveni is unlikely to relinquish power in his lifetime.

General Kainerugaba’s work has brought him into the global spotlight in recent years erratic, late-night tweets. At least one of the general’s closest confidants has also been appointed to a top Cabinet position.

Mr. Museveni, a six-term president, is expected to run in Uganda’s next election in 2026, further cementing his hold on the lush landlocked country. But his advancing age and tensions among his close confidants in the military and ruling party have reignited debate over an alleged plan from a decade ago to groom his son for power.

Mr Museveni has repeatedly denied such a plan, commonly referred to as the “Muhoozi project”.

Since coming to power in 1986, Mr Museveni an important ally of the Westruled Uganda with an iron fist and cracked down on press freedom, Imprisonment of opposition leaders And have his critics tortured. Mr Museveni, his son and other senior Ugandan officials were present charged with crimes against humanity in a petition filed last year with the International Criminal Court.

Mr Museveni also signed a widely condemned one Anti-gay law Last year this called for a life sentence for anyone engaging in gay sex and was seen as one of those cases the hardest in the world. In August, the United Nations human rights office in Uganda was closed after the government refused to renew an agreement allowing it to operate in the country.

General Kainerugaba is the eldest child and only son of Mr Museveni, who also has three daughters. His first name, Muhoozi, means “the avenger,” the president said. The son, who attended military schools in the United States and Britain, was also a commander of the Ugandan military’s land forces and head of an elite special forces unit responsible for protecting Mr. Museveni and his interests.

In recent months, General Kainerugaba has sought to burnish his image and consolidate his support across the country. He met with politicians and attended rallies, which critics say violates rules that ban active-duty army officers in Uganda from participating in politics.

He has refrained from sharing provocative tweets for months, which was sometimes the case in the past angered his father. He has also taken over as chairman of the Patriotic League of Uganda, a non-partisan group whose aim, he says, is to promote national pride.

On Friday, some Ugandan observers said General Kainerugaba’s appointment had not only allowed Mr Museveni to closely monitor the army but also to keep everyone guessing as succession politics loomed and the election approached.

“It appears to give the son a strategic position so that he can manage the family property if the father dies,” said Michael Mutyaba, a Ugandan researcher and policy analyst, in a telephone interview.

The president, Mr. Mutyaba added, “likes to remain unpredictable, which is one way to retain power.”