Kizza Besigye's Motley Collection

One Man's Week By John Nagenda I had wanted, as promised, this week to write in personal vein about Museveni, that great national and international figure of our time. Long after we are all dust, himself included, his name will continue to shine in our continent and beyond. And, alongside him, will be the Movement system which he and his colleagues and followers started, stoked and kept going. Uganda has been the principal beneficiary, as figures and graphs unfailingly show. And, in addition, the physical and spiritual landscapes point to the same conclusion. One day the Movement system will spread to other countries, with whatever local variations are required. It would have been enjoyable to spend time paying homage to its principal begetter. But, alas, nasty little battles have flared up, to which we must now turn instead, and demolish. Luckily President Museveni will still be very much with us. Dissecting his worth is only deferred to another day. *** The first storm in a teacup was on Aids, always hot ground. The Monitor could hardly contain itself, on Friday's front page screeching, "Museveni's AIDS remarks provoke anger, attacks". They quoted Maj. Rubaramira Ruranga, coordinator of an Aids NGO, a Milly Katana, another NGO coordinator; also "several Besigye supporters", all of whom said "it was very unfortunate". What a coincidence, or had they been rehearsed? The major was quoted as saying that he had been "angered by the president's remarks about Dr Besigye's health status." Quoth he, "The remarks have been bad, at the same time good for those who are Aids patients. All of them now know the attitude of their president towards them." The implication is obvious: that Museveni is antipathetic towards Aids sufferers. This is ridiculous nonsense. It is a well-known fact that Museveni stands head and shoulders above all other heads of state in the way he has fought against the Aids scourge. Because of his transparent stand and that of other Ugandans, the incidence of the plague has been dramatically reversed. While other countries worldwide were busy hiding the disease in their midst, Museveni ordered that Uganda would give the whole truth to its citizens and the world at large. Is that why he is so ruthlessly truthful about it; that he would say Besigye had it? This is what the Time reporter, Ms Michaels, wrote: "Besigye and his wife now depict their former friend as a tired man, who though only 56, is out of touch and out of ideas. Museveni is happy to return the favour. "Besigye is suffering from Aids," says the President. Of course Museveni spiritedly listed the reasons why the Besigyes' analysis was bunkum. The way Michaels puts it, "Museveni is happy to return the favour" does Museveni no favour, because it implies that Museveni put his alleged tiredness on a political level with Besigye's alleged condition. He never did. Michaels skewered him by joining an answer to at least two different questions. Had I sat in on the interview (which is my job, though no one bothered to tell me it was being conducted) I would have seen the trap and averted it, by pointing out to the President the woman's game. But on his own, with a journalist he wrongly trusted, in the middle of a hectic campaign, Museveni was in trouble. However, all those who know him and his stand on Aids, know very clearly that he has never used it to undermine anyone, Besigye inclusive. *** The Army, the UPDF, has now entered the debate on the elections. It has even been said that some of the candidates will quit the presidential race if the subject is not resolved. What a pitiful excuse! But I referred to it when Besigye took 48 hours off the election trail following the Rabwoni affair. I said he was running scared because of his poll rating and that he was merely sign-posting the day he would fall off. Is it now? For Awori, it would save him the $1000 a day to hire the helicopter he has long promised. He could then sit back and enjoy the millions of dollars which he said had been bequeathed him by his Yale companions. Poor Yale! In any case the subject is resolved. The government has constitutionally deployed The Uganda People's Defence Forces to defend the people of Uganda; simple as that. When some political leaders, two principal ones from Besigye's camp, Lukyamuzi and Sebaggala, advise citizens to kill suspected foreigners attempting to vote, only a very bad government would not take precautions. It must be added that the UPDF, by heroically ridding us of evil regimes of the past, is a warmly respected institution by right-thinking citizens. They are going to be working alongside the police and other security organisations. What's the problem? One that I see is the increasing number of disparate people and organisations now making a beeline for the confused Mrs Besigye and her husband. The latest are a bevy of old-time UPCs, joining hands yet again with the rudderless Semogerere. It is deeply comical, especially since the Besigyes stand no chance; for if they won, your country and mine would be in deep trouble as rewards were shared out between these various adventurers with no common cause. Let all people of goodwill start to raise one glass after another in the sure knowledge that the next column will welcome back the country's own Yoweri Kaguta Museveni. Ends