KAMPALA – The presidential adviser on media affairs, Mr Joseph Tamale Mirundi, has urged Kyadondo East MP Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine not to form an alliance with Dr Kizza Besigye, saying the mafia in government wants to use the four-time presidential candidate to compromise the leader of the People Power movement.
Bobi Wine and Dr Besigye are currently engaged in talks with a view to fronting one of the two to stand against President Yoweri Museveni come 2021.
But Mr Mirundi warned that should Bobi Wine allow to work with Dr Besigye, he will be doomed.
“A coalition won’t work. If Bobi Wine allows working with Besigye, he’ll be doomed. The most credible candidate in this country is Mugisha Muntu. The mafia is controlling Besigye. Getting Bobi Wine to join Besigye is a new strategy by the mafia to control him. Besigye is a perennial failure,” he said in an interview on Tuesday, October 15, 2019.
Asked whether he thinks Dr Besigye is part of the government mafia, Mr Mirundi said: “Has Besigye ever been subjected to live bullets? Besigye’s businesses have never been tampered with. Some of the government vehicles fuel from his petrol stations.”
Mr Mirundi’s remarks come a day after a political analyst urged Dr Besigye and Bobi Wine to put aside their political differences and unite if they are to take power. Bobi Wine has already declared his intention to stand for president come 2021, a move say will lead to split of opposition votes as Dr Besigye is also set to stand.
And Dr Patrick Wakida, who is also a senior researcher, on Monday said the two parties must work together for the sake of victory.
“Hon. Kyagulanyi and Besigye have been close friends. Recently, there have been disagreements in opposition political parties. It’s therefore good that they sit back and engage. It’s high time that the opposition and those who want change to organise themselves. In a democracy, you choose freely on how to associate but once you start to distrust the institution, you don’t need to get there,” he said in an interview on Monday, October 14, 2019.
Dr Wakida said whereas People Power at the moment has the favour of the people, it cannot ignore Dr Besigye.
“If you come to play politics in this country and not work with Besigye, you’re shooting yourself. The People Power group recognises that if they’re to go a mile, they must work in harmony with Besigye. People Power has the favour of the people. It’s going to require a silence of egos for all these leaders to conclude. It’s going to be very difficult to have these political parties agree if the principles don’t agree. Each of these leaders represents different people and age groups,” he said.
