Besigye to challenge Museveni
2005-10-26 14:50
Entebbe - Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye returned home from four years of self-imposed exile on Wednesday, vowing to challenge what he called the "dictatorship" of President Yoweri Museveni in elections next year.
In an apparent bid to take advantage of calls for national reconciliation after the death in exile and state funeral of former president Milton Obote, Besigye arrived at Entebbe International Airport aboard a flight from South Africa.
The former army officer had fled to South Africa, where Obote died on October 10 after spending 20 years in exile in Zambia, for security reasons after an unsuccessful run against Museveni in 2001 elections, which he claimed were rigged.
Political persecution
Besigye said: "I am coming back, but I know the situation is not different from when I left,"
Besigye runs Uganda's opposition Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) and had left Uganda fearing arrest.
He said: "Political persecution is rampant in this country", calling for Uganda's fractured opposition groups "to co-operate to unseat the dictatorship".
He said: "I don't have animosity against the person of the president. We have animosity with his system."
Besigye, who was Museveni's personal doctor during the guerrilla war that ousted Obote in 1985, had been accused of various crimes, including treason and alleged collusion with illegal rebel groups.
Established regime
Kampala had offered no guarantees that he would not be arrested and prosecuted on those charges that Besigye had vehemently denied.
He said: "I have not involved myself in whatsoever manner in efforts to remove the established regime in Uganda by force."
Besigye returned as Uganda prepared for its first multi-party elections next year.
If he were to vie for the presidency, he would face his arch-foe Museveni, who recently pushed through a constitutional amendment scrapping term limits.
The move, which allowed him to stand for a third term in office, had been decried by the opposition as a tool for Museveni to become a "president for life".
- AFP