Opposition leader Dr Kizza Besigye has today, Tuesday, May 24, beaten security at his home in Wakiso District’s Kasangati home, and appeared in the Kampala City Centre to protest the high cost of living and skyrocketing commodity prices as well as a rumored plan to ensure that first son Lt Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba succeeds his father Gen Yoweri Museveni.
On May 23, Besigye was blocked from leaving his home, but he vowed never to stop protesting until the prices have gone done and Museveni’s government fallen. Besigye was on Monday detained in a police van after being arrested and blocked from leaving his home to rally Ugandans to protest.
Also arrested was Soroti District Woman MP Anna Adeke Ebaju and four others as they attempted to make their way to Besigye’s home. Adeke, who is also the FDC Vice President for Northern Uganda said she was one of the lawyers of the political kingpin and had come to find out what charges had been preferred against him.
Today morning, Besigye appeared in the City Centre to rally Ugandans to protest the high cost of living and a rumored succession plan.
RISING COMMODITY PRICES
Like was the case in 2011, commodity prices have shot up across the country, with government largely blaming external factors and not offering tangible solutions for citizens surviving in an economy battered by the effects of the Covid19 pandemic.
President Museveni recently spoke about the rising commodity prices. But the most prominent statement most Ugandans got from his speech was his Marie Antoinette-like piece of advice that if they cannot afford bread, they should eat muwogo/cassava.
RUMORED MUSEVENI-MUHOOZI SUCCESSION
Besigye was also protesting a rumored move by President Museveni to help his son Muhoozi, currently serving as the Commander of UPDF Land Forces and his father’s senior advisor on special operations, to succeed him.
Muhoozi’s recently concluded 48th birthday celebrations which included a State House dinner hosted by Museveni and parties across the country, seemed to be bolster the possibility of a ‘Muhoozi Project,’ a concept first broached by former coordinator of intelligence services Gen David Tinyefuuza (now Sejusa) in 2013.
Speaking at Justice Forum (Jeema) offices in Mengo, Kampala two weeks ago, during an event hosted by his People’s Front for Transition (PFT), Besigye made it clear that him and other change-seeking Ugandans were interested in a succession from Museveni to his son Muhoozi, but rather in a meaningful transition of power from those with guns to civilians.
Besigye made it clear that he would never salute Muhoozi even if he became president, becoming the second former bush war fighter to openly say so. (Read Story Here).
Erias Lukwago, Besigye’s deputy at the PFT, described Muhoozi as ‘a very reckless general with nothing but the gun and a birth certificate indicating that Gen Museveni is his father. (Read Story Here).
FULL SPEECH: Here’s What Museveni Said About Commodity Prices, State of the Economy
