Museveni, Besigye face-off
Gerald Bareebe & Patson Baraire
Kampala/Rukungiri
President Museveni and his main political rival, Dr Kiiza Besigye of the Forum
for Democratic Change are set to renew political rivalries as they both tour
Rukungiri District this week.
Besigye lost to Museveni in the 2001 and 2006 elections and both officials have
said they will run again in 2011 if picked by their parties, making this tour
an opportunity for either politician to measure their message and popularity in
Rukungiri, which is Dr Besigye’s home district.
Dr Besigye, who arrived in the area last Wednesday, is expected to spend 10
days in the district. FDC officials say Dr Besigye is in Rukungiri to
participate in the party’s grassroots elections slated for October 11-15.
State House officials, on the other hand, say President Museveni’s visit to the
district is a continuation of his countrywide tour to assess the Prosperity for
All (Bonna Baggagawale) programme.
The officials say Mr Museveni’s tour was temporarily shelved late last month,
after visits to districts in eastern and south western Uganda, because the
president had to travel to the United State to attend the UN General Assembly.
While President Museveni has generally steered clear of politics in his rallies
on the tour, the Prosperity for All programme is expected to be a key campaign
driver in 2011. The President’s press secretary, Mr Tamale Mirundi said Mr
Museveni was supposed to visit the district last week but other commitments
forced him to postpone the visit. He denied that this was done in order to
counter Dr Besigye’s tour.
“It is Besigye trying to create an impression that President Museveni follows
him wherever he goes,” said Mr Mirundi. FDC officials have previously said that
President Museveni’s tours, which have tended to follow visits by Besigye to
the same regions, were evidence of political cat-and-mouse manoeuvres.
FDC spokesman Mr Wafula Oguttu said as long as security operatives don’t
interfere with the FDC grassroots elections in Rukungiri, the party would
continue with its mobilisation programme, irrespective of Mr Museveni’s visit.
“Dr Besigye is visiting his home district and he is personally going to contest
in his home village of Karubengo to come as a party delegate. We are not
bothered by Museveni’s visit, unless soldiers are going to interrupt us,” Mr
Oguttu told Daily Monitor by telephone.
Mr Museveni and Dr Besigye have in the previous 2001 and 2006 elections fought
bruising battles in Rukungiri, which is considered an NRM stronghold. Rukungiri
is home to several political bigwigs including former health minister, Maj.
Gen. Jim Muhwezi, who is Rujumbura MP, Gen. Aronda Nyakairima, the Chief of
Defence Forces and former Internal Security Organisation chief Brig. Henry
Tumukunde.
Both Muhwezi and Tumukunde have since fallen out with President Museveni after
being prosecuted on corruption-related charges. President Museveni’s visit
comes at a time when Maj. Gen. Muhwezi, the district NRM chairman, is involved
in a bitter fight with the party’s secretary General, Amama Mbabazi as well as
the president whom he accuses of directing his prosecution.
President Museveni is expected to send a conciliatory message to his supporters
in the district, many of whom feel betrayed by the treatment meted out to their
local political leaders. In 2006, Mr Museveni got 55, 436 votes or 64.9 per
cent of the vote to Dr Besigye’s 34.26 per cent in Rukungiri.
Dr Besigye had in 2001 lost by a bigger margin in the district amid allegations
of massive violence in the district allegedly orchestrated by the Presidential
Guard Brigade, leading to death of at least one Besigye supporter.
Mr Mirundi said: “The President is not panicking because of Besigye’s support.
Why should he panic because of Besigye? Besigye is a spent force. He is a non-
issue. He is not on campaign. You will see him as a politician in 2011.” During
their respective tours of Rukungiri, the two politicians are expected to
counter each other as they address different rallies.
President Museveni already set the tone when he told a rally at Muko Sub-county
in Kabale district last month that Dr Besigye was not a historical in the NRM.
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