By Henry Gombya
The announcement this weekend by the leader of Uganda’s main
opposition political party, the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) Dr
Kizza Besigye that he will not be contesting the leadership of his party
for a third term, heralds a new era in Ugandan politics and sets a
precedent for the country’s future leaders that one cannot surely go on,
and on and on. Dr Besigye has fought a brave war against all odds,
standing fearlessly to challenge the might of the National Resistance
Movement (NRM) that he once served and believed in but realised they
were on a wrong path and tried to steer Uganda into a different path.
FDC leader Dr Kizza Besigye decides not to stand in presidential and party leaderships again.
Many have ridiculed Dr Besigye saying
his was a personal vendetta with President Museveni for having snatched
away his one-time girlfriend that was later to become his dear wife.
Besigye is not the first man in the world to have fallen for what was
once his political mentor’s girlfriend, nor will he be the last to have
married someone who once belonged to somebody else. We do have plenty of
those here in the United Kingdom.
Deciding at the same time that he would
not be seeking the presidency of the country in 2016 makes many of us
halt in our steps and take a look back and realise that perhaps this man
really wanted to bring changes to his country but seeing that he was
not able to, has honourably decided to let someone else have a go. This
decision does not come lightly from a man who has in the last decade
been subjected to all kinds of humiliation at the hands of the ruling
NRM.
What is obvious with Dr Besigye’s
decision not to contest the presidency again or to try and change his
party’s constitution which allows its leader only two terms of office,
clearly shows that at least we can now say there are Ugandan politicians
who are taking the cue from the few other Africans leaders today who
believe that once a term of office is set, no one should try and change
it in order to prolong their hold onto the reins of power.
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Dr. Besigye should have gone long time ago because he has seriously indebted opposition politics in Uganda . In any democracy if you loose an election you stand down and allow another person to bring in new ideas and substance and style. The culture of sticking on the” thing” is glued in the blood of Ugandans and until we learn to respect the views of the electorate who keep on voting against Dr Besigye in the last few elections , Uganda will not achieve a smooth transition on this tough path of democracy. I am personally happy that my good Dr. Besigye has now seen exactly what I told him on phone when he was in South African exile in 2000 . I want to thank him for agreeing to leave so that he can champion the building of more medical centres and allow real politicians to deliver constructive political alternatives for Uganda. Uganda needs an opposition that can engage NRM not to fight NRM ideas. An opposition that runs errands of personal policies dies a harsher death! Let Dr. Besigye learn to reconcile and forgive and seek healing as the medicine of a long legacy. I wish him the best in his other matters in our politics and he should have gone in 2011 but since I am not a member of FDC I have no right to vote for his exit sooner than 2014.
From London with peace