Muntu: I want to take on Museveni

Kampala
Maj. Gen. Mugisha Muntu has launched his campaign to be the Forum for Democratic Change 2011 presidential candidate, asking the opposition party supporters to endorse him to take on President Museveni.

The former army commander said it would be easy for him to defeat the incumbent because he has increasingly become unpopular due to total failure by the NRM government to fight corruption, which, he said, has increased poverty in the country.

Tough-talking General
“Our economy has been growing but only benefiting a few while the majority of our people from Koboko to Busia, Moroto to Kisoro and Mukono to Gulu live in abject poverty,” he said at the launch in Kampala yesterday.

He added: “What has stopped us from meeting these challenges is not the absence of sound policies but rather a failure of the regime under Yoweri Museveni as president.”

Gen. Muntu, who fought in the Bush War that brought Mr Museveni to power in 1986, was army commander from 1990 to 1998. He remains the regime’s longest serving army commander.

Gen. Muntu is running against Dr Kizza Besigye, the FDC party president.

He last year lost to Dr Besigye the battle to be party president at elections held at Namboole Stadium, Wakiso.
The FDC candidate will be elected in April.

Dr Besigye has lost in the previous two presidential elections to the incumbent, whose ruling NRM has already endorsed him as its flag bearer in the 2011 polls.

Gen. Muntu praised Dr Besigye’s charisma in yesterday’s speech, pointing out his resilience in fighting the “repressive” NRM government and his wise leadership and commitment to the opposition party.

He, however, pointed out it was time for the party to change leadership.
“He [Dr. Besigye] and his family have endured harassment and persecution. We applaud him and we shall forever remain indebted to him both as a party and the country,” he said.

The mention of Dr Besigye attracted a standing ovation and some people started calling out the name of Musasizi Kifefe, the younger brother of the FDC president, who passed away in 2007, two years after he had been arrested and kept in jail on treason charges.

Friendly fire
The kind words about Dr Besigye will calm party supporters who had feared a heated contest.

The two candidates addressed a joint press conference on Monday, pledging a clean campaign.

Gen. Muntu reiterated yesterday that he was going to employ a new type of approach and that his candidature would reshape politics, campaigns, and when the FDC takes over the leadership of the country, he would reshape the way the government is run.

Gen. Muntu also accused President Museveni of relying on the country’s previous leadership crisis to psychologically scare Ugandans who would wish to vote him out of power.

Manifesto details
His campaign promises to fight corruption, poverty, improve healthcare and use of public funds.

“No one else will cause the change we need and deserve. We have choices to make and we must choose to recover our country from the hands of the regime that has lost a sense of shame,” he said.

The two FDC candidates kick off their campaigns this weekend, with Gen. Muntu headed to eastern Uganda in Mbale, while Dr Besigye will be in Bunyoro, starting with Hoima.

Who is Muntu?

Born on October 7, 1958 , Major General (rtd) Mugisha Muntu is a former Army officer turned politician.

He is a member of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), one of the leading political parties in the country.

Mugisha Muntu was born at Kitunga village in Ankole Uganda to the late Enock Ruzima Muntuyera and Aida Matama Muntuyera. He had an affluent childhood as his father was a strong government functionary and close friend of former Ugandan ruler Milton Obote.

He attended Mbarara Junior School, Kitunga Primary and Kitunga High School. Kitunga High School was later renamed Muntuyera High School, in memory of his father by his friend President Obote.

Muntu later attended Makerere College School. He subsequently went on to graduate in political science from Makerere University where he was deputy president of the students union.

Muntu joined the guerrilla National Resistance Army of Yoweri Museveni the day he completed his university exams to the chagrin of his family and President Obote, who considered him a son. Early into the rebellion he was shot in the chest but survived after receiving treatment in Kampala.

Later he emerged as the head of Military Intelligence after the NRA victory in 1986. In military intelligence he had under his command, personalities like Paul Kagame who would later become the president of the Republic of Rwanda.

Mugisha Muntu underwent further military training in Russia before becoming a division commander in northern Uganda. He rose to the rank of Major General within the UPDF. He was later to serve as Commander of the UPDF. That post was later renamed Chief of Defence Forces of Uganda. As army chief he oversaw the demobilization of many sections of the army and bought new equipment for the force. He is Uganda's longest-longest-serving army commander, a position he occupied from 1989 until 1998. He gained repute as an incorruptible officer in an army riddled with corrupt officers.

Political career
Muntu was a member of the constituent assembly (1994 - 1995) and parliamentarian. After disagreeing with Museveni's sectarian approach to politics and the military, he was removed from the army command and appointed minister, a position he politely turned down. In August 2006, he was selected by the members of the Ugandan Parliament to serve as one of the nine (9) Ugandan representatives to the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA).
Sourced from Wikipaedia