The Secretary General of the Uganda Peoples Congress (UPC) Edward Ssegganyi has implored former candidate in the February 18 presidential elections Kizza Besigye, to take a break from the defiance campaigns.
Flanked by the UPC spokesperson Michael Osinde Orach and National Chairman Lawrence Okae Engirot, Sseganyi said Besigye needs to respect the peace and stability of other citizens in Uganda especially those in Wakiso and Kampala who are most affected by the defiance campaigns.
“People have to work hard to earn a living so the defiance campaign is a hindrance to their work since it involves unemployed youth that end up stealing and causing damage to peoples properties which always forces them to close their businesses,” he said, adding however, that the UPC was ‘happy’ Besigye is now a free man.
Sseganyi, the SG of the Jimmy Akena splinter faction, also noted that the NRM regime had weaknesses that needed solutions, and hastened to acknowledge they had engaged the President Yoweri Museveni on a number of issues including the 2016 presidential elections, during the Inter-party Dialogue (IPOD) meeting held at State House, Entebbe.
Of recent the UPC has been ‘in bed’ with the NRM, a strong indicator being the appointment of Akena’s wife Betty Amongi as Minister of Lands and Housing, a development that has since upset the opposition, mostly the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), whose flag bearer Dr Besigye is highly critical of the ruling NRM government, which he accuses of stealing his 2016 electoral victory.
FDC’s Dr Besigye lost the 2016 presidential elections but contested the results, prompting him to declare a defiance campaign after the Supreme Court rejected a petition by his opposition colleague, Go Forward candidate Amama Mbabazi, and ruled in favour of incumbent National Resistance Movement (NRM) candidate Museveni.
Besigye, who has been on remand in Luzira Maximum Security prison for about two months on charges of treason was yesterday released on a non-cash bail of 100 million by Nakawa High Court judge Justice Wilson Masalu Musene, and immediately vowed to re-start the defiance campaign in earnest.
And, as if to emphasise his point, today Dr Besigye addressed a lengthy press conference at the FDC headquarters in Najjanankumbi where he, among other issues, reaffirmed his commitment to the defiance campaign.
