Besigye will not hold back secrets

By Emmanuel Mulondo RETIRED Col. Dr. Kiiza Besigye has said he will not withhold any classified information when he appears before the judicial commission to testify on the purchase of junk helicopters for the UPDF. The Colonel, who was speaking to journalists and cadres in the Kabarole Resident District Commissioner's office on Monday evening, said he would not cover up theft in the name of classified information. State minister for defence Steven Kavuma announced the judicial commission of inquiry into the helicopter deal on Tuesday. "There's no classified thieving. If you are a thief, you are a thief," Besigye said. He had just featured on Voice of Toro in Fort Portal town. He attacked the Government for "wavering from the Movement's original objectives, lack of transparency in the privatisation process and massive corruption with impunity." Besigye, who arrived at the station at 10.10 pm, said his mission was to salvage the situation and ensure peace. "Public money, some of it borrowed, is being misappropriated by a few individuals in government. The seeds project, money which would have come here to develop Kabarole, was embezzled," Besigye said. "Privatisation - people in government are selling to themselves. The money is nowhere to be seen. The Government pumped sh100b into the UCB to make it attractive to buyers. It (money) ended up in Maj. Gen. Salim Sale's pocket. By the time the Government came in to take UCB, the sh100b which could have been used for construction of 1,000 schools was no longer there," he added. Besigye said Saleh conceded taking a $800,000 bribe but was forgiven in the name of being a good cadre. Callers questioned Besigye why he was raising the matters at this point. "I have been talking about these issues since 1989. I started talking about some of them in the CA with my late colleague Sserwanga Lwanga. We were told soldiers must not talk," he said. He said the Movement was deteriorating, destroying the achievements of the last 10 years. He said President Museveni could offer nothing new if he had failed to deliver in the past 15 years in power. A caller questioned him about what plans he had for joining Kabarole district on the Uganda Television network. "That's a very small part of our programme. It can be solved with technology," Besigye said. He promised balanced development. After the programme, Besigye joined his wife WinnieQ, who was waiting in a car. Ends.