Today marks the 66th Birthday of the rebel, reformist and firebrand politician Dr. Kizza Besigye. The man who aspired and continues to inspire thousands. He would have been the righteous title of “former head of state”. It wasn’t without a reason he went around and got called the “People’s President” for years.
Besigye haven’t had it easy. He never gotten peace and mind to do his work. Neither has brothers or sisters who has joined him. They have been purged, arrested, charged and detained. The folks around him has been kept detained for months on end without any trial or fair judgement. Besigye have been charged with treason, civil disobedience and all other penal codes that you can name. He has been detained in nearly any corner of the Republic and he has been in plenty of trials. Which has ended up in nothing and been a waste of time.
Besigye is a resolute man and an honest actor. A man of honour and a brave man at that. He could have lived in riches abroad and been a successful doctor. However, he returned back from exile and tried to serve within the NRM government. Nevertheless, he saw the rot and the acts of government and couldn’t bare in mind to be associated with that. So, he left and created Reform Agenda, which later become the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC).
No one can say it hasn’t cost. The days of house-arrest, the loss of family members and the fatalities within his ranks. The ones who has been poisoned and the ones who has been extra judicially killed by just campaigning for a better tomorrow. The man has seen it all and faced it all too. His comrades and people in the struggle have never had it easy.
The ones who thinks the struggle and hardships came with Bobi Wine. No, it was already here, but People Power and National Unity Platform is the next generation that exposes it even further. They are working for the same cause, but materialize itself differently. Besigye has seen all the ills and the Republic haven’t changed.
The Junta is in-charge and Besigye can still amp up the crowds and spark a fire if he wanted too. Besigye have shown how to revolt and ignite defiance in the population. There been plenty of times because of his popularity. That the authorities and the government has come with an iron-fist and no mercy towards this man. The tear-gas, the assaults and the brutal arrests that will forever linger in my mind. As the video-clips and the photos showed what the authorities is capable of doing to a civilian. Who was only working for the betterment of the Republic and not for his own gains.
Besigye became officially second in many Presidential Races. Though we know the rigging and the means of the state. If it wasn’t for the pre-ticked ballots, voter intimidation and all the tricks of the book to legitimize Museveni. Besigye would have already been the President and been the Head of State. If not in 2016, he would have been so in 2011 or in 2006. We can never know, but in my heart I knew he won in 2016. Without a shadow of a doubt and only by laws of crooks he was stolen from getting a well deserved position as His Excellency.
That’s why today isn’t a day of mourning. It is a day of celebration. He is a man who has shown the way and continues to do so. Bobi Wine is maybe this generations freedom fighter, but he needs to learn and reflect from what Besigye did. Besigye has gone in all the footsteps and paths that was possible in the past. He knows the hurdles and the system at hand. It is an unforgiving on and a type that corrupts. That’s why he resilience and will power of Besigye is not only admirable, but something we can all learn from.
Besigye don’t only have ideals, but manuals on how to dissolve the Junta. The people should reflect on those and they need to follow these. Because, it gives insights into how to overpower and create a peaceful transition. Which has been one of the main goals of work. Where it goes from the dictator and to a civilian leader. It goes from the guns and to the people. A transition without violence and with the will of people. That is what he has strived for, but never seen. Hopefully, Besigye get to see promise land. Maybe not for himself, but for the next generation.
He will never be forgotten. His a hero and a man of integrity. There will always be a need for people like him. If things had gone the right way. Besigye would have been the President and the Head of State. We know by now that this never happened. The will of the people and the authorities was able to quell it. Still, he will always have a special place and should be remembered for the campaigns, the rallies and how he stood on the barricades for the people. He did it for them and we cannot forget that. We will not and the ones who stood in his way. Deserves to be tarnished and remembered for blocking his reign. Peace.