Dr Kiyingi to take on Museveni for top seat in 2016 elections

Kampala. Dr Aggrey Kiyingi will return to challenge President Museveni in next year’s election, the Australian-based heart surgeon has said.
“It is now common knowledge, and I would like to confirm, that I intend to stand against Mr Museveni in the 2016 presidential elections,” Dr Kiyingi told Daily Monitor yesterday.
He revealed that his team “of brave and vigilant supporters have been traversing the country in a pre-marketing campaign” to prepare for his return to the country, which, he said, had originally been planned for later this month or next month.
He did not say what his new return date will be in light of the latest developments, however.

His woes with government
The cardiologist, who in 2005 was tried and acquitted regarding the death of his former wife, Robinah Kayaga Kiyingi, described as “ridiculous” the charges that were on Tuesday slapped on him.
A state prosecutor told the Nakawa Magistrate’s Court that Dr Kiyingi, together with tens of members of the Tabliq Muslim sect were responsible for the recent killings of Muslim leaders in the country.
The group, which includes Sheikh Yunus Kamoga, the leader of the Tabliq sect, was further accused of terrorism and crimes against humanity.
The state alleges that Dr Kiyingi founded a rebel group called Federal Alliance, which, they say, has since linked up with the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) and that Dr Kiyingi has been funding its operations. ADF, which is said to have bases in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, fought a bitter war with the government forces during the mid-1990s and it was accused of using terrorist methods.
ADF was also accused, among other things, of burning to death students at Kichwamba Technical College and planting grenades in Kampala in the early 2000s.
In what he called “an initial response to these malicious and false allegations”, Dr Kiyingi said he had never ordered the killing of Muslim clerics, had never financed any killings and that he had no dealings with the ADF.
He further denied ever having formed the alleged Federal Alliance rebel group, but instead said he was championing the formation of the Uganda Federal Democratic Organisation (UFDO), which he heads.

Rebel links denied
He did not say whether the Muslim leaders with whom he was accused were members of this organisation and he did not name the members of his team. But he said that his group has suffered harassment and “arbitrary arrests” and worse at the hands of government agents.
“Many have been beaten severely and a number have actually died,” Dr Kiyingi added without giving details.
He said by bringing charges against him, the government, which he said had been thrown into a “panic” by his impending return, had launched “a pre-emptive attack in a bid to try to stop me from launching my political platform.”
He added that he was “prepared at all costs to lead the people of Uganda to freedom so that they can regain their dignity and their country.” Dr Kiyingi also has Australian citizenship.

Who is kiyingi?

Dr Aggrey Kiyingi came into the limelight in Uganda following the death of his wife Robinah Kiyingi in July 2005. The High Court advocate was killed in Buziga, a Kampala suburb.
Before that, however, the doctor had led a rather ordinary life. Dr Kiyingi is born to Azalia Sebowa of Busukuma village, Namulonge in Wakiso District. He attended Budo Junior School and King’s College, Budo. The brilliant student that he was, Dr Kiyingi studied his O-Level within three years instead of the usual four.
After A-Level in 1971, he joined Makerere University to study medicine and that is where he met Robinah who was at the Law school. He graduated from Makerere in 1977 with a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery.
His career
In 1980, Dr Kiyingi and his family left Uganda and first settled in Kenya where he worked at Kitui Village Hospital in Machakos. It was while in Kenya that he applied to migrate his family to Australia. In late 1981, he migrated to Sydney where he established himself as a cardiologist.
By 2001, Dr Kiyingi had made a name for himself in Uganda when he donated Shs20m to Katuso Church of Uganda in Buziga.
Later in 2002, Dr Kiyingi and his wife set up Dehezi International, a Kampala- based computer and internet service provider company. It supplied computers to schools around the country at a subsidised fee.
However, their 20-year marriage had hit the rocks which had prompted Robinah to relocate to Uganda and get into legal practice. The two had separately filed for divorce in Uganda and Australia, respectively.
Dr Kiyingi returned to Uganda following the death of his wife. He was arrested during the burial along with two other suspects over the murder.
On the government radar
Following his acquittal of the murder of his wife, Dr Kiyingi said his trial was political and had been framed by government. When he returned to Australia, he told the media there, “by getting rid of her, they silenced her. By getting rid of me, they get rid of a threat.”
He remarried in 2009 in Nairobi, Kenya. His second wife, Mariam Nakayiira, is a singer.
Last year, the High Court ordered for his eviction from his house in Buziga for having failed to clear a debt of Shs4.7b owed to a one Jackline Diana Asiimwe. He branded the eviction a government ploy to take his property.
Earlier this week, he was linked to the murder of the Muslim clerics in Mayuge and Kampala districts.

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