Besigye rejected money before fleeing into exile

By Muwonge C.W Magembe

OUR HISTORY

KAMPALA - Before Col (rtd) Dr Kizza Besigye was officially nominated as a presidential candidate in 2001, he opened up two accounts at Standard Chartered Bank in Kampala. 

The account in local currency was 0100140958008, while the foreign one was 3208940958008. The accounts were for mobilising funds for his campaigns. 

The individuals who co-ordinated the mobilisation of campaign funds for Besigye were Prince Vincent Kimera, Garuga Musinguzi, Prof. Masembe Kanyerezi, Edith Byanyima, Wycliff Bakanonda, Dr Chris Kibuuka and Winnie Byanyima, among others. 

Indeed, the aforesaid were upset when the chairman of the Electoral Commission, Hajji Aziz Kasujja, declared Yoweri Museveni as the winner of the 2001 presidential race, with 5,123,360 votes (69.33%), while Besigye came second with 2,055,795 (27.82%). 

As Besigye vehemently dismissed the electoral results as fraud, he purchased an air ticket from South African Airways Company, with the intention of travelling to South Africa for a three-day working visit. 

And on March 17, when he was meant to depart Entebbe International Airport, security personnel acting on the orders of the chief of Military Intelligence alias CMI, Lt. Col. Noble Mayombo, stopped him from boarding the plane. 

Muwonge C.W Magembe

Files complaint 

Three days after being stopped from travelling, Besigye went to Buganda Road-based Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC) and filed a complaint. 

His petition was handled by the commission’s legal department, headed by Joel Aliro Omara. After petitioning, Besigye told his curious supporters: “They (UHRC) have told me that they have powers of the High Court and that their conclusion is as good as that of the court.” 

The UHRC leadership then summoned Mayombo to make his statement. Indeed, Mayombo obliged on March 29. 

He told the commission, which was headed by Margaret Sekaggya, that Besigye was behind the bombs which had been thrown, killed and also injured people at Kafumbe Mukasa Road and Namirembe Road in Kampala on March 15. 

He also told the commission that in case Besigye wanted to travel out of the country; he had to seek consent from President Museveni or then security minister, Muruli Mukasa. 

Following Mayombo’s statement, the commission wrote to the then Attorney General, Bart Katureebe, on April 17, seeking his explanation of whether the travel restrictions placed on Besigye were legal and constitutional and not a breach of Article 29 (2b) of the Constitution. 

The commission also sought the opinion of the Attorney General whether CMI had the legal powers to exercise the rights under that article of the Constitution. 

The commission expected Katureebe to respond within two weeks, but he was unable. Instead, he wrote to the commission seeking more time, saying he was awaiting a statement from Mayombo. 

As the UHRC was handling the matter, Besigye scheduled a one-day working visit to Nairobi in Kenya in May. And on the day he was departing, CMI operatives, acting once again on Mayombo’s directive, blocked him. 

Commenting about the incident, the army spokesperson, Lt. Col. Phinehas Katirima said: “This is a continuing ban of government on his movements. Besigye’s flying out is a matter of national security.”

Mayombo claimed that during the 2001 presidential elections; Besigye enlisted the support of veterans, some with criminal records and publicly declared he would resort to violence in case the elections were rigged in favour of Museveni. 

Africana showdown 

Mayombo/CMI travel restrictions on Besigye irked the leadership of Uganda Law Society (ULS), especially its vice-president at the time, Andrew Kasirye. 

He described as awkward the circumstances under which Besigye was stopped from travelling. He reasoned that since the Government had repealed the Public Order and Safety Act of 1967, there was no law that allowed the state to restrict people’s rights. 

Later, Kasirye and his colleagues at ULS organised a one-day workshop on the matter at Hotel Africana, Kampala, on July 21. They invited Besigye and Mayombo as key speakers. 

The fast-talking Mayombo told the audience that security was blocking Besigye from travelling outside Uganda because he was capable of waging war against Uganda government. 

He claimed that during the 2001 presidential elections; Besigye enlisted the support of veterans, some with criminal records and publicly declared he would resort to violence in case the elections were rigged in favour of Museveni. 

He added: “If these statements had come from Francis Bwengye, Karuhanga Chapaa or Kibirige Mayanja, we would have taken them lightly. But between 1982 and 1986, Besigye was in the bush. So, he has the ability to fight the Government he fought for… He (Besigye) did mobilise a number of Ugandans to support his reform. 

He had a security detail of veterans, including those from the Rwandese Patriotic Front and FEDEMU some with criminal records. They continued meetings after the presidential elections with the view that elections were rigged. 

We had intelligence information that Besigye had received funding from a country that had been declared hostile. We also had intelligence that he was travelling to South Africa to meet members from countries already declared hostile.” 

At the same workshop, Besigye denied whatever allegation made by Mayombo. He challenged Mayombo to produce evidence showing that he had got funds from a hostile country to Uganda. 

Besigye described himself as a law-abiding person, who opted to petition the Supreme Court when the 2001 presidential elections were ‘rigged’ instead of waging a war like Museveni did after the December 1980 elections. 

On June 30, two months after the Hotel Africana workshop, Museveni publicly challenged Besigye to condemn army officers; Col. Anthony Kyakabale and Col. Samson Mande, who were part of his campaigns and afterward left the country and declared a war against government. 

The two officers were reportedly recruiting rebels for People’s Redemption Army. 
In reaction to Museveni’s statement, Besigye addressed a press conference in Kampala and denied: “I would like to categorically state that I have no knowledge of any person or group of persons involved in rebellion or breach of peace in this country.” 

He added: “Kyakabale was with Museveni in 1980. Museveni has definitely known him longer and better than myself. Definitely, he has campaigned for Museveni before. Does that mean that Museveni is a terrorist? When Museveni organised the attack on Kabamba in 1981, how many of his friends knew? Did he even tell his wife?” 

At the same press conference, Besigye warned that rebellions would continue in Uganda even without his blessing as long as the Government continued violating peoples’ rights. He recollected that he personally had no plans fighting Dr Milton Obote’s second rule until 1981, when Obote’s soldiers detained and also tortured him for three months.

Declines compensation 

After five months of waiting, Besigye, through his lawyer, Kenneth Kakuru, was informed by the UHRC leadership that the hearing of his case would commence on August 14. 

But the two parties (Besigye and the Government) were given a chance of mediation (settling the matter outside the court). Through mediation, Mayombo expressed government willingness to give Besigye money as compensation for the inconveniences caused to him for stopping his foreign travels. 

But, the Government declined to acknowledge that it had violated Besigye’s movement rights. To the surprise of Sekaggya and the other leaders at UHRC, Besigye declined the financial compensation. He reasoned that his rights could not be negotiated upon. 

He, therefore, demanded a declaration from the UHRC that he had a right to travel anywhere he wished, but not government compensation. Three days after rejecting the compensation, Besigye went missing on August 17. 

The then-army spokesperson, Katirima, confessed to the public: “We do not know where he is, and how he left the country.” 

About a week later, Besigye, who was in the US, disclosed that he had fled from Uganda because he feared for his life after hearing that Ugandan security agents were planning to arrest him. 

Asked whether he intended to use violence, Besigye answered: “I have gone through a process of violent conflict, a violent change of government before, and I am keenly aware of what it costs, but if the Government leaves no option open for peaceful and democratic means of changing or addressing leadership issues, then I am afraid I will not have the other option of avoiding the regrettable and disruptive means of using force.”

The writer/researcher, Muwonge, wrote a book, President Idi Amin: A narrative of His Rule (1971-1979). It costs sh100,000 at Uganda Bookshop, Kampala.