EVOLUTION OF DICTATORS; A CASE OF KIIZA BESIGYE

Dear Ugandans, I think we need to be very careful. We want freedom, and all the possible Human Rights, but I don't think our peasants benefit from the current strategies of Dr. Kiiza Besigye. Mr. Besigye is arrested every time he comes out to meet the common people. What happens is that the security personnel end up following him up, holding him briefly, and eventually release him. What happens to the common people? They are dumped inot cells and they end up decaying there. Their properties are destroyed, and Besigye does not pick the bill. They lose income. Yesterday, many sustained injuries, I don't know how much Besigye has done to see these people's families better.

Many of us want a better Uganda, but surely, the strategies of Beigye may bring him fame as an individual and also earn him money from those who sponsor him, but he does not feed those he disorganizes. At the end of the day, when leaders like Besigye get power, they turn to the people claiming that they sacrificed for them! I want Besigye to change strategies instead of making the common people suffer more. William Kituuka Kiwanuka ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Police left numb as Besigye beats heavy deployment to enter city Kampala North Police Operations Commander Sam Omala was left speechless yesterday after the Forum for Democratic Change president, Dr Kizza Besigye, beat a security cordon at his home for the second day and entered the city. Police said they are investigating reports that Dr Besigye may have used a taxi to enter the city centre before jumping into his car. The apparent ease with which he was able to leave his home was by yesterday gaining mythical proportions. Dr Besigye emerged from his car at Namirembe Road in Kampala at around midday and waved the V-sign to a chanting crowd which quickly built up around him, surprising police. The police, who have been accused of illegally restricting the movements of Dr Besigye and other opposition politicians, blocked his car and diverted him to Central Police Station where he was held before being driven to Kira Division Police Station. This is the second time he is leaving home unnoticed since the Walk to Freedom campaign started this week. On Monday, the FDC leader suddenly showed up in the city, leaving a large number of security personnel deployed on 24-hour guard outside his home in Kasangati, bewildered. Before the city fracas, police had erected roadblocks near homes of opposition leaders and were busy searching every car to make sure that they do not leave their homes. On Tuesday, Mr Omala swore that Dr Besigye will not leave his home unless he denounces the Walk to Freedom campaign: “We will not sleep. Dr Besigye will not leave his home until he denounces his plans. We will not even doze for even a minute, I swear he will not leave this house,” Mr Omala, said. Dr Besigye, who was then at his home, responded that he can leave his home any time if he so wished. When Daily Monitor yesterday asked Mr Omala how Dr Besigye slipped through his security without recanting activities related to Walk to Freedom, he declined to comment. Police left numb as Besigye beats heavy deployment to enter city The police officer was yesterday seen at CPS explaining to Kampala North Regional Police Commander Stephen Tanui how Dr Besigye beat his security. It was not immediately clear what he told Mr Tanui. However, police managed to block outlawed pressure group 4GC Coordinator Mathias Mpuuga from leaving his home in the morning. In 2001 after the chaotic presidential polls, Dr Besigye left his house in Luzira, a Kampala suburb, where he was under close surveillance, in an escape which to-date baffles security agencies. He was next seen in the United States before relocating to South Africa where he lived in exile for months. Reported by Andrew Bagala, Frederic Musisi & Dear Jeanne ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

By Vision Reporter Two people sustained bullet wounds during the chaotic arrest of Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) president, Kizza Besigye along Namirembe road on Thursday. The victims who were not identified by press time were shot in the legs by stray bullets. One of the victims is a bodaboda cyclist within the city, witnesses say. However, it is not known yet whether more people were hurt during the afternoon fracas. The FDC leader entered the city after beating security that was beefed around his home in Kasangati Thursday morning. The arrest turned chaotic with cops shooting in the air and releasing tear gas canisters to wade off 'opposition sympathisers' who were moving with Besigye. Traders who operate in several arcades downtown Kampala locked up their shops for fear of looters taking advantage of the chaos and making away with their merchandise. Besigye was later arrested and whisked off to Kampala Central Police Station. The Thursday incident almost played out like Monday's, where police clashed with some members, particularly of the opposition, including Besigye. Police early Monday deployed at the homes of Besigye, Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago and Kampala central MP, Mohammed Nsereko, to block them from going to the city. The security operatives had been tipped on the intentions of the highly influential leaders. The FDC president had planned to hold a rally at the Constitutional Square in the city centre. Mayor Lukwago had his sights on touring the wiped-out New Taxi park, from where, it is said, he would meet some of his supporters. Chaos The city has been host to dramatic scenes since the start of this week where police and opposition leaders have been at loggerheads. Monday saw a number of arrests, where Besigye and Lukwago featured highly in the mix. Lukwago was arrested, released then rearrested that day. Some people along the streets are now working, uncertain of what would happen next. "I fear being in the city now because of the teargas. But since i have to work and earn some money, i cannot just stay seated at home doing nothing," a hawker in the city said. Police prior to the Monday chaotic episodes warned against staging any kind of rallies in the build-up of the jubilee festivities slated for next week, October 9.