Inside Besigye’s secret operations

Somewhere in Busaabala, Wakiso District, Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) chairman Wasswa Biriggwa owns a nature lodge of notable beauty. There is a bar and restaurant area, lounge and cottages covered in green, with many of the trees fitted with tags that bear their names. There is a forest of teak trees that measures nearly an acre, and then a green field overlooking Lake Victoria.

In the open green field, four tents draped in the national colours of black, yellow and red were erected in preparation for an important function that was to happen on Thursday. Such is the secrecy of the preparations that a chat with one of the people who helped in arranging the area revealed that they had no clue what it was all about until the function started.

Many other people who eventually accessed the venue of what was dubbed the People’s Assembly had limited or no information about it just days or hours to its happening. The information was kept within a close-knit group around Dr Kizza Besigye and his associates.
Journalists were invited for the occasion within just hours of it happening, and even then there was no information as to where it was to take place or what exactly it entailed. They were just driven to the venue in the middle of the function.

Decision to go underground
When he took leave of the court appearances, Dr Besigye did not take to the streets to lead protests as he had often wanted to do over the years. He adopted what some in his circles call a “guerrilla” approach, secretly combing the villages for recruits with whom he intends to further what he calls his non-violent struggle.

This recruitment had in fact started before the 2016 election when the Opposition leader came up with what he called Power Ten (P10), a concept where he sought to recruit 10 people per village who he hoped to propel his struggle and protect votes. Through his P10 structures, sources say Dr Besigye secretly collected results declaration forms from many, perhaps most of the districts, after the 2016 elections.

Where he could not get copies of the results declaration forms, Sunday Monitor has learnt, Dr Besigye reportedly got poll results from each polling station and tabulated as he tallied his own set of results. A summary of the “analysis” of the 2016 election results he released at the height of the saga, Dr Besigye claimed that Mr Museveni attained the winning margin though “inflating” votes at polling stations and “vote manufacturing”.

Sources close to him say he is armed with his set of “results” – what he calls the “true” results of the 2016 election – the reason he has consistently demanded for an audit of the 2016 election and says is willing to stand trial over his claim that he won it. According to the results declared by the Electoral Commission, President Museveni won with 60.8 per cent, against Dr Besigye’s 35 per cent. The rest of the votes were shared among former prime minister Amama Mbabazi, Mr Abed Bwanika, Mr Joseph Mabirizi, Ms Maureen Kyalya, Maj Gen Benon Biraro, and Prof Venansius Baryamureeba.

During the campaigns, voting and the aftermath of the election, Dr Besigye complained that many of the members of his P10 outfit were arrested, intimidated or bribed to switch allegiance in favour of the ruling party. At the inauguration of the People’s Assembly last Thursday, the Opposition leader spoke about the danger of the people they recruit crossing over to the ruling side, saying the only remedy they have for that is to continue recruiting.
During the past two or so years, sources say Dr Besigye’s group has continued to surreptitiously (and also openly) recruit and train “carefully” selected individuals regarding what actions they need to take in their bid to win power.

People’s Government
Many of the members of the People’s Assembly were selected from among those who have been trained under the arrangement outlined above, and they comprise the equivalent of a parliament for the People’s Government. The People’s Government was named by Dr Besigye from among like-minded individuals who felt the need to form a mock government after what they say was a rigged election in 2016.

There were disagreements over the formation of the People’s Government, of course, with former FDC president Maj Gen Mugisha Muntu reportedly rejecting a posting in the same. Gen Muntu argued, sources say, that even if the election was rigged, what mattered then was that Mr Museveni still held power and that it made no sense for those who say their victory was stolen to form a mock government. Those in favour of forming the People’s Government argued that it was necessary to form the mock government as a way of exerting pressure on President Museveni’s government, and for purposes of mobilisation for future causes.

Gen Muntu has since left FDC and says he is in the process of forming a new political party. His decision to leave FDC was triggered by a bitter internal election within FDC which he lost to Mr Oboi Amuriat, who works very closely with Dr Besigye. Mr Amuriat said during his campaigns – and he was accompanied to a number of places during the campaigns by Dr Besigye – that a key objective of his candidature was to help “reclaim our victory”, which they say President Museveni robbed them of in 2016.

Whereas Dr Besigye continued to work with certain individuals in the People’s Government, including Mr Amuriat, the People’s Government” was not officially unveiled until Thursday, some two and a half years since the idea was born.
Fully implementing the idea of the People’s Government has been such a complicated exercise that even on Thursday, Dr Besigye announced that some positions remained vacant because consultations were still ongoing as some people who had been earmarked for positions had not yet committed to serving under the arrangement.

Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago, who also attended the Thursday function and made an animated speech to the attendees, serves as the deputy president of the People’s Government, with Conservative Party (CP) president Ken Lukyamuzi serving on the Council of State along with Mr Biriggwa, the former presidential candidate Chapaa Karuhanga and Mr Amuriat. The Council of State, Dr Besigye said on Thursday, will serve to moderate and advise the People’s Presidency and mediate between the different Opposition groups in case of misunderstandings, among other functions.

Under the auspices of the People’s Government, Dr Besigye and his colleagues have in the past carried out activities, including mobilising and delivering relief items and food to hunger-stricken people in Teso Sub-region and Isingiro District, and also supporting the people of Bududa District when mudslides last hit them.

‘Year of action’
Against the background of the preparatory work that Dr Besigye and colleagues have been involved in for the past few years, sources within their ranks say they feel sufficiently prepared to engage in open politics now, hence Dr Besigye’s declaration at the end of last year that 2019 will be “the year of action.”
In the plan, the members of the People’s Assembly are required to help mobilise their respective constituencies for the offensive that the group is mooting. It is not yet clear how they intend to execute the “action” that they now so openly talk about.

Plan
At the first meeting of the People’s Assembly, Dr Besigye offered glimpses of their plan when he propounded his “theory of change” embodied in a tiny booklet produced by the People’s Government. In his “theory of change”, Dr Besigye defined dictator, who he says President Museveni is, and explained how a dictator operates; delved into the “methods of removing a dictator”, in which he dwelt at length with the options of using violent and non-violent means. He spelt out the advantages and disadvantages of the two approaches, and explained why he and his colleagues had taken to non-violent means as their approach of choice.
The People’s Assembly elected former MP Oduman Okello as its speaker, with Ms Cissy Nabatanzi, a fresh graduate of law, as his deputy. Mr Oduman said upon assuming his new office, People’s Assembly will meet at an appointed time to discuss the paper that Dr Besigye had presented to them.

With the People’s Assembly now in place at the national level, it was announced that similar assemblies will be created at regional, district, sub-county, parish and village levels to complete the cycle, and that it is these assemblies that will drive the “action”. The members of the People’s Assembly are those who intend to run for the national Parliament at the next election.
The People’s Assembly went on until sunset on Thursday, Valentine’s Day, and as we drove out of the location, revellers would be seen having a good time at the nearby One Love Beach that belongs to Kyadondo East MP Robert Kyagulanyi, aka Bobi Wine. Mr Kyagulanyi has also entered the fray to challenge President Museveni and last year held a fiercely politicised concert at his beach in Busabala, which perhaps forced the police to block his other planned concert on Boxing Day last year.

At Mr Kyagulanyi’s successful concert at his beach, the key slogan was “people power; our power”. When Dr Besigye and his colleagues hosted the People’s Assembly under the umbrella of the People’s Government at the property that neighbours One Love Beach, the slogan was “power to the people”. It is strange how the hitherto dusty village of Busabala, where some people only go to eat fish, is fast becoming the epicentre of change-seeking activities.

From overt to covert
Information: The information available to Sunday Monitor is that composing and eventually holding the People’s Assembly was the climax of secret activities that Dr Besigye and his close associates have been involved in since 2016.
Hints. At the press conferences he has addressed in recent months, Dr Besigye has made reference to what he calls the “covert” and “overt” work that he says they have been involved in, always promising to unveil it “at the right time”.

It all started by Dr Besigye declaring himself president after the 2016 elections, which he claims to have won by 52 per cent of the votes.
Mock video. A video of a mock swearing-in, in which Dr Besigye is seen being “sworn-in” as president, surfaced shortly before President Museveni took oath for a fifth elected term on May 12, 2016.

Arrests. Dr Besigye, who had been arrested on the eve of Mr Museveni’s swearing-in, was charged with treason basing largely on the video, but the case has never been prosecuted nearly three years later. After a number of appearances before the magistrates court at Nakawa for mention of his case, Dr Besigye eventually decided not to appear before the same court again, saying that repeated appearances before a court that has no jurisdiction to try his case had taken a toll on him.

Claim. He told the court that there was little that needed to be investigated because he was willing to repeat in court his claim that he won the 2016 election, and that he would prove it at the trial.
Demand. He charged the prosecution to complete investigations into the matter and have him committed to the High Court for trial.
Probing. The magistrates court, after being prodded by the prosecution, recently issued criminal summons against Dr Besigye to appear before the same court over the matter.

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