Bidandi says why he backed Museveni

Oct 31, 2010

THE army planned to grab power had President Yoweri Museveni not won the 2001 presidential elections, the People’s Progressive Party boss, Jaberi Bidandi Ssali, has said.

By Herbert Ssempogo

THE army planned to grab power had President Yoweri Museveni not won the 2001 presidential elections, the People’s Progressive Party boss, Jaberi Bidandi Ssali, has said.

Bidandi, who held rallies across Kayunga district on Saturday, recalled that as a member of the Political High Command then, he learnt of the plot which had been hatched by the Military High Command.

Bidandi is currently campaigning for the presidency of Uganda.

Fearing the worst, the former local government minister argued that he chose to advise the public to return Museveni to power.

Moreover, he added, Museveni had, in his manifesto, promised to leave power after 2006.

“I feared that we would return to the days of anarchy in which people were killed and their property destroyed. That is why I urged people to vote for Museveni. Indeed, I saved the country from returning to military rule,” he told over 100 people, who gathered at Nazigo.

Apparently, the military officers were scared of the mammoth gatherings that turned up at the rallies of the Forum for Democratic Change boss, Kizza Besigye, Bidandi said. Besigye was campaigning to unseat Museveni.

However, Bidandi said, Museveni later reneged on his promise, hence his fallout with him and his (Bidandi) current desire to lead the country. He is among eight candidates nominated for the post.

“After three years, Museveni argued that people had asked him to continue serving them. We tried to remind him about his promise of leaving power, but he refused. So, we had to part ways,” Bidandi said.

Promising that he would establish a government that is accountable to the people, Bidandi attacked Museveni’s regime for greed and failure to punish leaders accused of corruption.

“I want to put in place a system whereby if someone is accused of certain crimes, he is asked to step aside to pave way for an investigation,” he said.

Bidandi said the theft of public resources by young leaders, who still want to accumulate wealth unlike him, had propelled him to seek election for the highest office in the land.

He promised to protect Museveni, when elected president, arguing that retribution would lead to chaos.

Some residents promised to support Bidandi.

“His ideas are very good. Everything he has said is about people like me. I have liked him. I think he will get my vote,” an elderly man, who preferred anonymity, said at Nazigo, adding that poverty was among the biggest problems the next government needed to tackle.

Bidandi also addressed gatherings in Kayonza, Kitimbwa, at Galiraya landing site and Kitwe, in addition to several trading centres.

At Kitimbwa, he pledged to create a new electoral commission, whose leaders would be appointed by all the political parties in the country, unlike the current one, which is handpicked by the President, he said.

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