By Timothy Nsubuga

20^th Dec 2010

Dr. Kizza Besigye at a recent campaign rally

The Inter Party Cooperation (IPC) flag bearer Dr. Kizza Besigye, who is also the President of the opposition Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), is Uganda’s ‘savior’, jubilant singing Sabiny women have declared.

Unlike in 2006 when town folk in Sebei region ignored him, this time round, huge crowds welcomed him with many singing, dancing, and cheering.  At the same ground where he campaigned in 2006, a group of women traders who said they had been NRM supporters for a long time but had now changed sang a song for Dr. Besigye in which they referred to him as a savior.

In their song, the women said they were tired of putting on torn garments and plastic shoes that are locally known in the region as “bagaggawale” or “nigiina”.  ‘Bonna Bagaggawale’ is President Museveni’s pedestrian economic policy; a policy that one analyst said lays “an unrealistic emphasis” on the use of Savings and Credit Societies to spur economic development.

Dr Besigye, who was evidently overwhelmed by the electric reception that the people of Sebei region as a whole gave him, said wherever he has been in the country so far in his campaigns, Ugandans have expressed a strong desire for change.  Because of that, Besigye said, “…victory is at hand.  I really think that even Museveni and the NRM know that they are not going to win.  In fact, even the last time they knew that they were not going to win”, Besigye stressed.

The IPC flag bearer added that there is now overwhelming evidence across the country to demonstrate that support for both Museveni and the NRM is in steady decline.  “…A whole President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces and you compete with a prisoner?  That should have shown you in 2006 that his [Museveni’s] popularity had been greatly diminished”, Besigye pointed out.

For the entire duration of the 2006 election campaigns, Dr. Besigye was virtually a prisoner of conscience, having been charged with treason and especially rape on Museveni’s direct orders.  The charges meant that instead of being on the campaign trail like Museveni, Besigye spent most of his time appearing before the High Court in Kampala; several hundred miles from the up-country towns where he could and should have been campaigning.

In spite of all those politically motivated legal restraints, Dr. Besigye still managed to win a very respectable 37% of the national vote.  Retired Supreme Court Judge Justice George Kanyeihamba, one of the Judges who heard Besigye’s petition challenging Museveni’s fraudulent “victory” in 2006, has since said the Supreme Court should have nullified the presidential election results and ordered fresh elections.

Dr. Besigye began his tour of the Sebei region on Thursday with campaigns in the districts of Kapchorwa and Kween before concluding in Bukwo on Friday 17^th where he launched a scathing attack on President Museveni’s handling of the Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and the Karamoja issues.

Responding to a question about how an IPC government would handle the Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is that is most pertinent to the region, Dr. Besigye said, “…the issue of Female Genital Mutilation is being mishandled. You can’t force people to change. What you need to do is to intensify discussion”, Besigye said.

In his view, Besigye said, FGM is ingrained in the Sebiny culture and therefore the better approach would be to engage the Sebiny and make them “…appreciate the hazards associated with FGM as opposed to having laws imposed on them”.

At his final rally of the day in Kaproron, Besigye promised to carry out an overhaul in the education sector.  “…Besides increasing teachers’ salaries and providing meals for pupils, we want to ensure that conditions of study in our schools rapidly change”, Besigye said.

From Sebei, Dr. Besigye on Saturday started his campaigns in Amudat district.  END. Please log into www.ugandacorrespondent.com every Monday to read our top stories and anytime mid-week for our news updates.