Dr Kizza Besigye, the Chairman of the People’s Transition Front, has spoken out on the current crises in Uganda and the diversion of Karamoja iron sheets by government officials.
Besigye was Tuesday addressing the press at his Katonga Road-based office in Kampala.
He recently returned from abroad where he had gone for medical treatment.
“Thankfully, I am back home at Kasangati. Having felt quite unwell during early Feb, I travelled abroad to seek a better assessment. The doctors, among others, advised that I take a therapeutic rest, which I dutifully did- staying with family in Geneva,” he tweeted on April 11.
The political activist says he was worried that he had been poisoned but upon investigation, it was a viral infection for which treatment was administered and he is now back in full swing.
Speaking to journalists, Besigye also commented on the ministers who are involved in the Karamoja iron sheets scandal.
“President Museveni’s Cabinet are thieves. They are like monkeys which grab bananas wherever they see them,” he stated.
Two ministers; Mary Goretti Kitutu (Karamoja Affairs) and Amos Lugoloobi (State Minister for Planning) were arrested and remanded to Luzira for diverting the iron sheets. Kitutu was later released on bail.
On Tuesday morning, the junior Karamoja Affairs Minister, Agnes Nandutu, also handed herself over to CID after days of eluding police arrest over the same matter.
I won’t leave the struggle
Meanwhile, Besigye says it’s wrong for ‘people in the struggle’ to continue to look at him as a mere member of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC).
He promised not to seek or accept any leadership position once the NRM government has been ousted from power.
“But I will not leave the struggle and will intensify what I will do as a person,” he clarified.
“If I, Besigye, a medical doctor who could be employed anywhere in this world, I’m still fighting to oust the NRM regime, what about you even without any job? Nobody is going to fight for you, the country needs a total reset.”
Besigye says Uganda’s political struggle is facing challenges because some of the ‘fighters’ have opted to do what they ought to do after the struggle during the struggle instead.
He says a divided opposition will always focus on fighting each other for the few positions
“The state we are dealing with is a collapsed state. Even the police that have always been chasing us don’t have fuel and papers to write on.”