Kampala (aFP) — The trials of two Ugandan government critics were set to resume Tuesday, with President Yoweri Museveni silent while his son cracks down on critics in an increasing show of power.

General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the 52-year-old son of the president and head of the army, has ordered the arrest of leading activists and politicians in recent weeks and this weekend shut down the main independent media group.

He is known for controversial social media posts that veer from boasts about abducting and torturing opponents, to jokes about marrying Beyonce, and has repeatedly said he will be the next president after the 81-year-old Museveni, who has ruled Uganda for 40 years, leaves office.

Analysts say he has already become the dominant force in the country in recent weeks with a mounting crackdown on critics.

On Tuesday, a Kampala court will hear the long-standing treason charges against opposition leader Kizza Besigye, held in detention since his abduction from Kenya in 2024.

It will separately hear a case against Besigye’s lawyer, Erias Lukwago, who was arrested this month on Kainerugaba’s orders.

At the weekend, he also ordered the shutdown of the leading independent media group that runs the Daily Monitor newspaper and NTV station, declaring: “I DO NOT believe in a free press!”

His father, who won a seventh term in office less than six months ago, has made no comment on his son’s recent actions.

People had previously taken Kainerugaba’s threats “as a joke,” said Gerald Walulya, senior lecturer in the journalism department of Makerere University.