The main opposition politician in Uganda and four time presidential candidate, Dr. Kizza Besigye has revealed that he will not contest for any elective position in the coming 2021 general elections.
The former Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party president used the opportunity to welcome several aspirants who include; Patrick Oboi Amuriat and his contemporary Wasswa Birigwa who are vying for presidential flag bearer.
“Patrick Amuriat is a seasoned and tested politician who has been here for over a decade. Birigwa has been own chairman. They are all capable of carrying the flag and leading this country,” he said at party headquarters in Najjanankumbi.
However like all political gatherings within this election period, the function was not without interruptions as they were temporarily disrupted by the youths who demanded and pleaded for the former party head, Dr. Kizza Kifefe Besigye to pick up nomination forms before he could address them.
Despite several calls from those in attendance for his re-election, the former party leader made it clear that he would not be running for the president’s office in the upcoming elections. The bush was colonel has always been seeking to unseat his former boss and bush war comrade Gen. Yoweri Museveni.
He further congratulated the aspirants and urged the party to ‘embrace different channels in their fight for leadership.
After being the party’s foreman since 2001, it was clear that the doctor’s departure from the helm was met with a number of mixed reactions as some couldn’t believe it while others felt it was necessary for the growth of the party as a democratic and independent entity of Uganda’s politics.
According to political analysts stepping down was a result of circumstance rather than personal choice given the velocity with which the newly created ‘National Unity Platform’ has taken centre stage in the opposition corner; it was only a matter of time before Uganda’s opposition rallied behind the new bloods and their fresh wave of zeal and energy.
