The detained former presidential candidate Kizza Besigye seems to have not only lost relevance in the central region but also in Rukungiri district his home. Besigye lost the central region which was the epicenter of opposition to the National Unity platform party and indeed the 2021 elections saw the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party lose the position of Leader of Opposition in Parliament.
The four times presidential candidate and one of FDC’s pillars used to be Rukungiri’s Lion that would shake the politics in the same district every time he roared to the extent that in 2016 elections,most of the members of parliament from Rukungiri district were FDC including Roland Kaginda,Fred Turyamuhweza,Betty Muzanira.Only Paula Turyahikayo was not FDC.
In the turn of events, the 2021 elections saw the FDC lose all the parliament seats in Rukungiri district save for Naboth Namanya in Rubabo. Rukungiri being under the command of Besigye, everybody expected the FDC and opposition to win all the positions as it had been the case before. But instead the National Resistance Movement won almost all the seats.
It is on record that Kizza Besigye has been in jail as many times as he can no longer remember and every time he gets arrested for his violence and civil disobedience struggles in the country, Rukungiri would come to standstill with protests and demonstrations against his arrest. However surprisingly, his recent arrest has attracted not even a single meeting from his home people to demand his release as it used to be.
The truth of the matter is that Besigye is over politically. His politics of deception and giving false hopes to Ugandans came to an end and he can no longer enjoy the relevance and hype as it was then, no matter the games he will play. The central region is completely out of his hands irreversibly and having lost Rukungiri his homebase, Besigye remains with no stronghold politically and he is left with cheap games like creating new parties and hanging on other new politicians. It is over for him.
He is left with politically homeless politicians like Semujju Nganda, Erias Lukwago and others whose territories are NUP strongholds and would definitely add nothing to the new formation. They are definitely doing everything to keep in the news but they well understand that Kizza Besigye’s glory is over and won’t be reclaimed.
The fact that Rukungiri district went back to the hands of NRM and seeing that his hometown can no longer be bothered by his arrest and attention as was the case before, it is time for Ugandans to know that it is politically over for Besigye. As Paulo Coelho said “It is always important to know when something has reached its end. Closing circles, shutting doors, finishing chapters, it doesn’t matter what we call it; what matters is to leave in the past those moments in life that are over.”
