Former FDC Presidential candidate Col Dr Kizza Besigye has blasted the international community for standing by and watching from the fence as the Ugandan government metes violence on its political opponents.
Besigye on Thursday condemned what he called continuous abduction and killing of thousands Ugandans as seen in the just concluded 2021 election season.
Opposition groups, mostly the National Unity Platform (NUP) over the past months has persistently accused government security forces of raiding homes of their supporters, bundling them in vans known infamously as “drones” and whisking them off.
“We have thousands of young people being held in dungeons in this city. Many of them have died there and their bodies dumped at mortuaries. I have spoken to many who were released from these facilities and their stories are horrifying,” Besigye told press.
And yet according to Besigye, the international community has not only been silent about the situation in Uganda, but continued to provide financial support to the government.
The FDC founder singled out the European Union in Uganda which he accused of engaging in PR instead of taking action.
“I heard this morning that a team of EU officials went to visit Bobi Wine at his home,” Besigye said.
“This is not time for visiting…this not the time for PR. It is time for action.”
Besigye also aimed his rage at the regional and continental political organs for watching the violence that took place in the Ugandan election, wondering, “Why are we in the African Union when its treaties on human rights are being violated?”
At a press conference at his office on Kotonga Road, Col Besigye floated the idea of Ugandans “refusing to pay back the loans taken by government to facilitate the election process.”
“All the money that is being spent on hunting our people down was borrowed; it is not Ugandan money,” he said.
“The government since March last year gas borrowed over 1.7 billion dollars from Stanbic, IMF and Wold Bank. That is the money torturing us and yet we are the ones to pay it.
“We are sending message to the lenders of this government that giving loans like they are doing is perfect description of odious debt, and in history there is a lot of precedent that we as citizens have a right not to pay back an odious debt, because these loans are not being taken in the interest of us the people.”
Regarding the presidential election which was held on January 14th and won by President Museveni, Besigye said he was right not to participate in it.
He said he had correctly predicted the outcome.
“I told those who participated that an election in itself cannot remove the gunmen. That citizens have to do more than participate in the election. We simply have to struggle.”
