The issues of divisionism in opposition as we head over 2021, general elections are growing wide and need to be addressed immediately if at all they hope to capture the presidential seat.
However, according to Dr Kizza Besigye, the former presidential contestant and former FDC president, says the Saturday incident doesn’t call for discussion as it is today but all we need is to find the origin of what is happening.
“What I remember is something that was widely recorded; it’s not a matter of discussion of what took place. All of you Media groups were there, and you got what happened, we had a radio programme on CBS, and as I was getting out of CBS, there were a group of people out there, shouting we don’t want Besigye, we want Bobi wine and some of them came to assault me actually as I was approaching my vehicle. But they were pushed away by my colleagues whom I work with. So, it was a simple scuffle, really, but certainly significant. You know I have had a lot of discussions around this, I thinks the country needs to understand one thing which is where all this comes from.”
Dr Besigye says Uganda is under armed group rulers who forcefully gained power and maintains it by force. “A regime of few people controlling the country that does not want them.”
Besigye said he won the 2016, presidential vote but President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni altered the result and on top of that he detained him unlawfully. And later he was dragged to court and until today he has never been prosecuted simply because they know he had no case to answer. According to Besigye he has enough evidence pinning President Museveni as regards to 2016, vote election fraud.
“Yes and I have a ruling here, of the courts to show that I was under illegal detention from the time the election ended. It’s the ruling of the court, I was under illegal detention, detained by Mr Museveni whom I had defeated.”
He further said he couldn’t file a case in courts of law at that particular hour because he was illegally detained.
“You detain a Candidate unconstitutionally, in violation of elections procedures. So, if an election ends without a candidate having the opportunity to accept or not accept the election, it means the electoral process has been aborted.” Besigye observed.
“So, we end 2016, with a defeated Museveni, who uses force to take himself back to power, imprisons the rightful winner, charges him with a treason, which they have not prosecuted because they know the truth. Now, since 2016 every effort has been made to attack me and crash me. And I am talking about efforts in all directions including the media, one of the area in fact they have used to abuse me including yours of NBS, broadcasting very unprofessionally.”
“On your NBS I have been on some programme which had nothing to do with the captions you put on the TV. I have complained about this and you have apologised to me. This has happened a number of times, the programmes that come on NBS and other media outlets directly attacking my person. So a highly concerted campaign since 2016 to crash me,” Besigye’s emotional statement.
He proceeded to say that President Museveni has adopted new plan of breaking down opposition by setting up conflicts amidst, such that he continues dictating Ugandans in particular. Following 2016, vote where “Mr Museveni was very badly injured.”
Besigye meanwhile, points out some of his expected reasons behind the Saturday event.
“We cannot say certainty who the exact persons were, but I can say without any fear or contradiction that whoever was behind it, in the end it’s the regime.”
“we can do something without them getting involved but these kinds of actions it’s not that I don’t have knowledge, you know, so people will be clothed in many kinds of clothes when they are regime people, they will appear in all other colours of their attire or even the party’s they claim to come from, are not the issue. We have people who have caps of FDC, when they work for the regime.”
“Not the opposition I beg your pardon again this is a media narrative that there are government party NRM, and opposition party that it’s the fact, that’s not the fact, the reality is this that we have a military junta, it’s not a party and we have a captive state.”
The opposition strong man in his further narrations said they form and run some political organisations but within the captive State.
“But within those organisations we absolutely have no doubt that they will be infiltrated and every attempt will be made to disorganise them, because the whole idea of any dictatorship of any group or a small group that controls huge numbers of people by force, is that they must keep that huge number they control, divided, misinformed about what’s going on and that’s why all the effort is made to cut communication between us and the public. That’s why we cannot hold public meetings, that’s why there’s public order management act to stop communication of political leaders with their people.”
According to Besigye, the media is now one of the biggest equipment including social media in offering wrong information causing confusion amongst followers.
And in this regard, Besigye says he cannot stop any person from identifying her or himself his fan on social media as it’s alleged that some of the attackers on social media platforms are actually FDC supporters.
“We are struggling for rights of all Ugandans and every Ugandan has a duty whether young or old to work together to free ourselves from the close of this military junta. Anybody who uses abusive insulting, attacking language without any decorum claiming to do so on my behalf I disown. They cannot be acting on my behalf, I respectively disagree and very strongly disagree with many people including Mr Museveni, I strongly disagree with him and I think he has done very many evil things to this country, but I cannot insult him, I cannot abuse him no! I disagree on what he does and I give reasons why I do so.”
Besigye says that he cannot claim that the people who were chanting on the chaotic Saturday 2 of March saying we want Bobi Wine, we don’t want Besigye, are Bobi Wine’s people. Although some FDC leaders admitted it earlier, he says the earlier voices cannot represent him.
“And I did say and I want to use this good opportunity they have given me to repeat this message. Anybody who uses abusive, insulting, attacking language without any decorum claiming to do so on my behalf, I disown.”
He says those who want him out of the political race claiming he is old they want young ones are totally misplaced, saying that the struggle is all about liberating Uganda.
“We are in is struggle for liberation. Whether we are young or old whatever, we are all captive. The people who are captivating are not any age group. Are people who are controlling guns that dominate the country. It’s not an age thing, it’s a question of domination. So, everybody in the prison must act together to free ourselves, young or old all of us must work together,” Besigye clarifying on the statement that attacked him directly.
“In a struggle you cannot say you have a struggle for only young people and the old one’s should get out no! we are not struggling for the rights of only one group, we are struggling for the rights of all Ugandans, every Ugandan has a duty whether young or old has a duty to work together to free ourselves from the close of this military junta,” Dr Besigye added.
We will keep you posted
