Prime
Presidential candidate Dr Besigye?
Writer: Asuman Bisiika. PHOTO/FILE
What you need to know:
By the time the elections are done with, the NRM government holding him will have recovered from their security madness
Dr Kizza Besigye, a retired colonel of the UPDF, is said to hold the record for a Ugandan politician who has faced the highest number of court cases. He is also said to hold the record for being the object of the highest number of police detentions. Fortunately (or unfortunately), Dr Besigye has never been found guilty. Neither has he been required by court to defend himself (prima facie); save for the 2005 rape case which was later dismissed by court with the deserving contempt. Are these detentions and court charges linked to yet another record that Dr Besigye holds: Being the Ugandan Opposition leader who has made the highest number of shots at the position of President of Uganda? And by the way, as I write this on a misty Kiburara afternoon, the said Dr Besigye is on remand on yet another of those cases a keen observer would associate with national politics (not crime).
Dr Besigye has been consistent in his political activism, sometimes exposing himself to the risk of mortal danger. And in dealing with Dr Besigye’s political activism, the police and military have often operated outside the law. I one time wrote that Dr Besigye had reduced the Uganda Police Force to a lumpen militariat. *************** Yes, Dr Besigye is currently in Luzira Maximum Security Prison serving a remand order from the court. He is the patriarch, patron, and leader of the Peoples Front for Freedom (PFF). I have heard Erias Lukwago (PFF de jure leader) calling him “our patriarch”. I have two suggestions for my people in PFF. One: the party should be branded and promoted as Freedom Party (only formal documents should carry the full name of PFF). Did you know that the official name of Counsel Asuman Basalirwa’s Jeema party is Justice Forum? The second suggestion is that ‘we’ appoint or anoint or pick Dr Besigye as the presidential candidate for the Freedom Party.
This has the effect of killing two birds with one stone: it will help the NRM government to divest itself from the baggage of holding an Opposition leader during an election in which he is a presidential candidate. And the people of Uganda would have their omwagalwa (beloved leader) out of Luzira Maximum Security Prison. By the time the elections are done with, the NRM government holding him will have recovered from their security madness. And our beloved leader will be back to his old self. This thing worked in 2006. Dr Besigye was nominated as a presidential candidate while he was on remand. We were lucky the Electoral Commission chair allowed it (dumping the advice of the Attorney General). Can the current leadership at the Electoral Commission allow this? Gwe nange… I know Dr Besigye may not like the idea of election campaigns.
But someone should tell him that this is or will be an asymmetrical act. This will be field craft (Wujanja ya porini). Dr Besigye may have trained when the military was still using English as MI (medium of instruction). But if he asked Gen Katumba Wamala or Gen Jeje Odongo (Monduli Graduates), they would tell him about field craft (Wujanja ya porini). In field craft, the end (freedom) justifies the means (just be a presidential candidate). Picture this: Dr Besigye is a duly nominated presidential candidate. His heart is not in it though. He joins presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi on his protest campaign. This would confuse those holding power, would it not?
Mr Bisiika is the former executive editor of the East African Flagpost.
