Uganda Peoples Defence Forces (UPDF) officer General David Sejusa has revealed that he convinced Col (rtd) Dr Kizza Besigye to join the 2016 presidential race.
Addressing Besigye’s supporters at Nakivubo Stadium on Wednesday, Sejusa said it took him a whole night to convince a hesitant Dr Besigye to participate in the elections organised by the Electoral Commission under Eng Badru Kiggundu.
“I spent a night at Dr. Besigye’s home and when re rejected my request, I told him that the Commission is not for Kiggundu but for the people,” he said.
Sejusa appealed to Ugandans to rally their support behind Dr Besigye, saying he is a ‘man of the people’. “Besigye buried my father when I was away in London while President Museveni did not,” Sejusa said while referring to his late father Mzee Simon Peter Bwajoojo, who died in 2014 while the General was in exile in London.
Sejusa also said Dr Besigye has the capability to redeem ‘Ugandans from the captivity inflicted upon them by Museveni and his NRM government’.
In 2012 Dr Besigye, who is the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) flag bearer in the 2016 presidential race, had said he would not participate in any presidential election organized by the current Electoral Commission.
He even resigned his position as the FDC party President a year before his term ended in 2014, arguing that he wanted to pave way for his successor to settle in the position before the 2016 presidential elections.
However, in June this year Besigye made a U-turn and announced that he would participate in the presidential elections. Subsequently, he contested for the party flag against his party President Maj Gen (rtd) Mugisha Muntu.
He won against Muntu, beginning the journey to his nomination as presidential candidate in the 2016 elections.
