Kizza Besigye nominated

By Nicholas Wassajja and Moses Mulondo

THE Electoral Commission (EC) has nominated Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) flag bearer Kizza Besigye to run for presidency in the 2016 general election.

He was cleared by the EC chairman Dr. Badru Kiggundu shortly after midday at Mandela National Stadium.

Flanked by Kampala woman MP Nabila Ssempala Nagayi and FDC chairman Wasswa Birigwa, Besigye told journalists shortly after that his nomination is not a normal one because it has been done by a fraudulent electoral commission.

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Besigye flanked by FDC president Gen Mugisha Muntu (L) and Wasswa Birigwa addresses the press after his nomination. Photo by Miriam Namutebi

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"It is ironic that I am being cleared by a body I have issues with, not individuals per say but with the way the commission operates. It is not partial which of course affects the core of having a free and fair election," Besigye raged.

He also noted that the commission is like a helpless man with a walking stick for support, saying that it has had to make decisions embedded with the program and wishes of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM).

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Besigye stated that his campaign is going to be based on defiance and not compliance because it is the only way liberation of the population can be possible.

"We can't comply with an impartial system because it can never deliver victory to those that seek to cause change. We shall defy because we want to liberate the people, reconfigure the state to build functional institutions and transform the country to ensure that we invest in all the people other than a privileged few," he explained.

Besigye who has contested unsuccessfully for presidency in 2001, 2006 and 2011 is now gets his fourth shot at the highest office in the country.