“Tumukunde Was in the Wrong Place” – Besigye

FDC strongman, Dr Kizza Besigye has reacted to the sacking of immediate former Minister of Security, Lt Gen Henry Tumukunde saying that it was not surprising since the General was “in the wrong place”.

On Sunday, President Museveni in an unforeseen development announced that he had replaced Tumukunde with decorated liberation fighter, Gen Elly Tumwine.

Tumukunde had not served for a year since he was appointed in the Ministerial position. The former ISO chief had made a come back to government a decade after he fell out with President Museveni and was jailed.

It is this long detachment with politics and government that Besigye says was responsible for the miscalculated statements that cast the General in bad light and led to his demise.

“He was a brief visitor to the government,” Besigye joked while addressing journalists, adding that “I don’t know why he wasn’t allowed to complete one year”.

“I suspect that having been away for 10 years, it isn’t easy to reengage. The system is far more vicious and I personally think he did not think through it,” Besigye added.

Many have linked the sacking of Tumukunde with his recent verbal fights with former Police chief, Gen Kale Kayihura, each of them accusing the other for undermining their institutions. The bickering had prompted a warning from the President.

Besigye says Tumukunde isn’t new to being a victim of his own statements.

“Even when he was in prison, it was his mouth. It seems he is inclined to say things that bring him problems”.

He however also attributed Tumukunde’s short stay in government to his approach of doing things especially in a system that is rigid to change.

“He was in the wrong place. Whether he was scheming like Kayihura, I don’t know”.

“He was very active in a manner that he misunderstood his mandate. He might have attempted to come out and change the way things were done,” Besigye explained.