Besigye should return

PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni in an interview with BBC this week said former presidential candidate Col Dr Kizza Besigye will not be arrested if he returns to Uganda. The President’s word can be trusted. But that is only if upon his return Col. Besigye does not commit any offence. Nobody is above the law! No government in the world would hesitate to charge opposition members who break the law. There is no immunity for them whatsoever. Like every citizen they are required to respect the law. In fact respecting the law is a political asset to win the next election. Opposition members often believe they are untouchable and government should grant them special status even when they breach the law. This unacceptable. Wrong-doers should face the law irrespective of their status including opposition members. Opposition politicians want freedom to break the law. They hate to be questioned or even summoned to account for their conduct or utterances. Whenever the law is evoked it is interpreted as harassment. As potential leaders of tomorrow it is imperative that opposition members weigh their actions and operate within the law. Following the presidential election Military Intelligence (CMI) twice blocked Col. Besigye from travelling abroad suspecting him of planning to destabilise the country. Apart from the incidents he was a free man attending seminars and issuing statements critical of government. He even petitioned the Human Rights Commission on the ban of his foreign travels by CMI. But he fled the country citing an impending arrest. That was a bad gamble. He is now globe trotting, telling the world that Uganda is a dangerous place. Ironically other former presidential candidates are in the country working normally and several remarkable politicians have abandoned exile and returned home. Besigye should also return.