Besigye speaks out on continued attacks from NUP supporters

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Dr Kizza Besigye, the national chairman of the People’s Front for Transition, a new political grouping with the aim of ending President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni’s 36 yearlong rule, has said he’s surprised that among those attacking the new organization are people belonging to the opposition National Unity Platform.

Speaking to the media today from the Justice Forum headquarters at Mengo in Kampala, the four time presidential candidate said since Thursday last week when the Front was formerly launched, he has been seeing responses that are not in line with the facts regarding their new vehicle against Museveni.

He said even the National Unity Platform president Kyagulanyi Robert Ssentamu sent him a message expressing concern about the hostile response coming from NUP supporters accusing the Front of being an affront against NUP and Kyagulanyi himself.

Besigye said the intension of the Front is not to act without all other changing seeking people like those in NUP. That is why, he added, before announcing the formation, they intensely engaged all actors including those in NUP who asked them for more time before they could join.

Asked why Kyagulanyi doesn’t come out publicly to condemn those attacking the new formation and instead choose to send personal messages, Besigye said he too was surprised that NUP top leadership are not dissuading their supporters from attacking him.

Besigye added that their efforts of engaging with all the stakeholders including political actors, religious leaders, community leaders, students, all those who are affected by what is going on, are still on going so that everybody recognizes the deep crisis that he said the country is into.

“Let everybody come to the table to discuss how to deal with this problem,” Besigye said. “The structure of the front was of those who were on the table but this is not about leadership. Ours is just a struggle. We are not getting together for elections, our contestation is with this crisis. Those who want to contest for offices to become presidents, mayors that’s not the aim of this front. Whoever wants to take leadership in the fight is most welcome but this is an urgent thing, we couldn’t sit back.”

Besigye also defended the Front having former candidates who failed in elections as part of its top leadership. Besigye said only which are neither free nor fair cannot be used as yardstick to determine the popularity of anybody.

For his part, Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago who is the deputy to Besigye in the Front rallied all change seeking Ugandans to join hands to confront the problem facing the country. Lukwago said by parties coming together, it doesn’t presuppose that then they have ceased to exist as individual entities.

Meanwhile, the Police has warned Dr Besigye and company to desist from all activities that aim at destabilizing the country’s peace. Speaking to reporters at the police headquarters, Fred Enanga, the spokesperson of the police said they are going to crackdown hard on anybody who engages in any political assembly without authorization from the ministry of health as the SOPs of Covid-19 dictate.

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