Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has made his son a brigadier-general and chief of the country's Special Forces Command.

Mr. Museveni — one of Africa longest-serving leaders — announced the promotion on Monday, along with the reshuffling of other military leaders.

President Museveni's son, Colonel Muhoozi Kainerugaba, is now a one-star general who oversees protection for his father and other VIPs in Uganda.

The 68-year-old Mr. Museveni has ruled Uganda since 1986.

Critics have raised concerns that he is grooming his 38-year-old son to succeed him. And in recent years rights groups have accused him of leading an increasingly repressive government.

President Museveni has been praised by western powers, including the United States, for being an ally and leader in regional security issues.

Uganda provides the bulk of the troops in the African Union force fighting alongside Somali government troops against al-Shabab militants in Somalia.

Mr. Museveni's forces are also part of an international effort capture Joseph Kony, head of the notoriously violent Lord's Resistance Army, which has brutalized the central African region since 1986.