The four-time presidential contestant and loser, Dr. Kizza Besigye, has been cited in a terrorism scandal following the arrest of his 36 supporters from Kenya.
The group, who are members of the FDC Katonga faction, which is headed by Dr. Besigye, was recently handed over to Uganda (ESO) by the Kenyan authority following their arrest.
They have been charged with terrorism by the Nakawa Chief Magistrates Court and are currently remanded.
The FDC officials at Najjanankumbi have denounced the group, saying they are from the Katonga faction.
Besigye has been moving around the country in his consultative meetings, calling Ugandans to remove President Museveni before the 2026 elections, something that has left many Ugandans wondering how he can remove a legitimately elected president before his term expires.
The truth of the matter is that Besigye has run out of options after losing many times and has nothing new to tell Ugandans, and according to a section of political pundits, Dr. Besigye is now a political spent force who is highly incapacitated to win even the LCIII election in his home area.
His ideas have been overtaken by events, and whatever he tries is total political gambling, hoping to achieve his selfish interests through promoting chaos and terrorism.
Besigye and the group need to understand that peace and security are what have given the NRM and President Museveni credibility for this long, and it is possible he cannot allow anybody to destabilize Uganda; he has proved this many times.
In an era when the East African countries are forming regional blocs to foster peace and security, Besigye is strategically wrong to think that Kenya can allow him to use their country to train terrorists aimed at destroying a friendly neighbor.
Severally, we have seen these countries combine efforts and form joint task forces to fight terrorists and other forms of instability imposed on their neighbors and diplomatic allies; a good example is the joint groups currently deployed in the DRC to bring stability there.
It is high time Besigye realized that he has completely lost relevancy and cannot regain it. The generational gap cannot make him rise again politically, and it is time for other political players to shine again.
The strategic mistakes of training terrorists and planning chaos to cause an insurrection soil him more and erase even the little credibility he had built for himself.
Ugandans have enjoyed peace and security under the leadership of Yoweri Museveni and wouldn’t welcome any undemocratic means other than electing their leaders; short of that, Besigye is just chasing a wild dream that will end up burning his fingers and sending him to political oblivion.
He ideally has no option apart from waiting for elections or joining other young political leaders if he can’t join NRM again.