Dr. Kizza Besigye revealed during a consultative meeting on the constitutional and electoral reforms held at Speke Resort Munyonyo that he is not going to be part of the 2026 general presidential elections because he believes he is at the end of the road in politics.
He made this revelation after Gilbert Kilak, a South Member of Parliament, suggested that Besigye be fronted as the sole candidate for the Forum Democratic Party (FDC).
“If you are planning to have me as the sole candidate in the 2026 presidential elections, please forget. I am at the end of the road with politics; I don’t think I will cause any serious change on the same playing field, and the sooner we realize that, the better,” said Besigye.
According to Kilak, Besigye’s revelations come at the worst moment for the party, whereby key people in the party have left or are threatening to switch sides both within and outside the party. Just when they thought they would be rejuvenating the party, they are hit with the blow of their founding father’s departure.
“We have been hit with a lot of mixed reactions within the party; some people think it is a wise decision. But for most of us, it does not feel good, since efforts to rejuvenate the party’s current situation were under way, and now that our founder is calling it quits, what’s left of FDC?” asked Kilak.
However, according to Charles Rwomushana, a renowned political analyst, Besigye is not just quitting but running away from a rocking boat that he has failed to stir forward, as the political ground is not favorable for him anymore due to personal weaknesses and external untamable factors such as new political players like Kyagulanyi.
“Besgiye should be open; he is running away, not quitting; the political ground for him is way different from when he stated that, with new players like Kyagulanyi, he cannot stand the heat; besides, FDC has had so many divisions and other challenges of late that he cannot control the party members anymore, ” Rwomushana said.
Besigye, a four-time presidential candidate, served as the president of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) political party and was an unsuccessful candidate in Uganda’s 2001, 2006, 2011, and 2016 presidential elections, losing all of them to the incumbent Yoweri Museveni.
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