By Timothy Nsubuga

13^th Feb 2012:

Dr Besigye: Slipped through the police net

Interesting details emerging from the hotly contested Jinja East bi-election that took place last week, Thursday, 9 February, indicate that Forum for Democratic Change [FDC] party president Dr Kizza Besigye has once again successfully outwitted a joint police and army security blockade that had been set up to stop him.

According to a source who was at the scene, the security blockade had been set up to stop Besigye and other top opposition leaders from entering Jinja Town Hall where the votes were being counted.  Uganda Correspondent understands that initially, Besigye tried to approach Jinja Town Hall in his vehicle but he was rudely stopped in his tracks by mean looking security operatives who ordered him to drive off.

A few minutes of heated exchanges followed.  The FDC leader finally obliged and asked his driver to turn around.  His vehicle then sped off and disappeared into the misty distance of the streets of Jinja town which had been virtually saturated by the heavy clouds of teargas that had been fired by police to disperse rival supporters of the two main contenders, FDC’s Paul Mwiru, and NRM’s Nathan Nabeta.

After about twenty minutes or so, the security officers who had blocked Besigye from accessing Jinja Town Hall were shocked to the bone to hear that the FDC leader had somehow made it into the Town Hall and was now busy trying to make sure that his candidate’s votes were not stolen.

Besigye himself was tight lipped when contacted by this reporter to shed light on how he outwitted the heavy security blockade.  “Hahahaha.” the FDC leader laughed out loud before steering the phone conversation swiftly away from what he called “the small matter” of how he beat the security blockade to enter Jinja Town Hall.

“That is not a matter for public consumption.  All I can tell you is that you have to be creative when you are dealing with a rogue regime.” Besigye said.  He then added that, “…The point is not really about how I made into the hall.  It is about the oppressive environment imposed by this regime in which we operate.  Transparency is a fundamental requirement for any election to be deemed free and fair.  And this is precisely what we have been demanding for years.” the FDC leader said.

Several unsubstantiated theories have since emerged about how Besigye beat the security roadblock in dramatic fashion.  Mr. David Waiswa, a 39 year old resident Walukuba West who says he was seated in a shop at the Town Hall end of Iganga Road as the drama unfolded, said he is convinced that Besigye came back on foot and walked straight past the security officers who had by now dropped their guard after seeing Besigye’s car drive off.

In truth, we never know how Besigye actually beat the tight security blockade.  But it is not the first time that the FDC leader has pulled off such a mystifying antic.  Soon after the 2001 elections, Besigye beat the heavy military ring-fence deployed at his house in Luzira and eventually escaped out of the country unnoticed.  He ended up in South Africa where he lived until his return in 2005.

The Jinja East bi-election result

FDC’s Paul Mwiru emerged victorious after beating his close opponent NRM opponent Nathan Nabeta Igeme by 1,701 votes.  Mwiru garnered a total of 7,758 votes and Nabeta came a close second with 6,057 votes.  Consequently, Mwiru was declared winner in front of Electoral Commission [EC] Chairman Eng. Badru Kiggundu.

The Jinja East parliament seat fell vacant after FDC’s Paul Mwiru successfully challenged Nabeta’s election in the High Court, which then ordered a bi-election.  END.  Please login to www.ugandacorrespondent.com every Monday to read our top stories and anytime mid-week for our news updates.