Army High Command 'lenient' on Besigye

By Frederick Kiwanuka A SENIOR UPDF officer, Major Jerome Bwende, has criticised the Army high command, saying they were too lenient with Col. Kiiza Besigye. Bwende said that as a result, Besigye was now challenging President Yoweri Museveni's leadership. Bwende, who is the military assistant to defence minister Steven Kavuma, said yesterday that Besigye should have faced the court martial when he violated Army regulations early this year. "Some of us were not happy when the President pardoned him. He should have faced the court-martial like other soldiers who misbehave," Bwende said. "We (the army) sat and decided that he should be tried. But he was later pardoned. Now you can see what is happening," he added. Bwende said Besigye was telling lies to discredit the Movement government. "We who know him in and out shall not allow him to continue lying to the public. We shall expose him so that the people know his weaknesses," he said. He said Besigye erred when he resorted to the press to air his grievances against the Government instead of going to the Army Council or the Army high command. Besigye has declared his intention to challenge Museveni in the presidential elections due next year.