Govt speaks out on Besigye - Museveni talks

President Museveni and Dr Kizza Besigye have hardly seen eye-to-eye since their fall-out 18 years ago in 1998 when Dr Besigye jumped ship, claiming the Movement had veered off their original ideals. FILE PHOTOS

What you need to know:

  • President Museveni and Dr Kizza Besigye have hardly seen eye-to-eye since their fall-out 18 years ago in 1998 when Dr Besigye jumped ship, claiming the Movement had veered off their original ideals
  • Their relationship has not only strained the two, but also poralised the country’s political landscape, so much so that the fall-out has been the epicentre of protests and demonstrations
  • Just after the February 2011 general election, President Museveni warned Dr Besigye against staging protests. Dr Besigye and members of the Opposition nonetheless started the Walk-to-Work protests over the rising cost of living and inflation

Kampala. Government has responded to reports indicating that it is involved in behind the scene talks with the largest Opposition party, the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), with a view of finding an amicable solution to the country’s political questions.
Daily Monitor on Monday broke a story revealing how Mr Museveni and his main rival, former FDC president, Dr Kizza Besigye, had agreed on a foreign mediator and blueprint for expected talks.
However, in a brief communication to Daily Monitor yesterday afternoon, the Minister for Information Technology and Communication, Mr Frank Tumwebaze, said such a development had not taken place.
“Government is not aware of any planned or proposed “talks” or “dialogue” between President Museveni and former Presidential Candidate Dr Kizza Besigye,” Mr Tumwebaze said in his brief statement.
Our sources had indicated that government is committed to dialogue and that there had been a number of initiatives aimed at resolving the country’s political problems.
The same sources also indicated that Uganda’s new Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Adonia Ayebare, and a Liberian national, Ms Yvette Chesson-Wureh, as some of the people involved in the footwork, Mr Tumwebaze said that no talks had taken place at any level.
“Cabinet has not discussed anything to that effect. There is nothing like that. If there are people who want President Museveni and Kizza Besigye to meet and talk, let them say so and make known the issues they want to present to the President,” he wrote.

Bad relations

President Museveni and Dr Kizza Besigye have hardly seen eye-to-eye since their fall-out 18 years ago in 1998 when Dr Besigye jumped ship, claiming the Movement had veered off their original ideals.
Their relationship has not only strained the two, but also poralised the country’s political landscape, so much so that the fall-out has been the epicentre of protests and demonstrations.
Just after the February 2011 general election, President Museveni warned Dr Besigye against staging protests. Dr Besigye and members of the Opposition nonetheless started the Walk-to-Work protests over the rising cost of living and inflation.