Why I will still vote for Dr. Besigye in the 2016 Uganda Elections

I have been supporting Dr. Kiizza Besigye ever since 2001 when he started contesting for the Uganda Presidential Elections. I never liked him because he is was a Medical Doctor, Westerner like me or because he was a high ranking military official at the rank of a Colonel. My reason for liking him is very simple, “he is terribly a honest man” and has the best vision for Uganda manifested through his consistent political actions over the years.

Dr Kiiza Besigye comes from a very wealthy family, his father [Kifefe] was a very rich business man in Rukungiri District during those days [owning a petrol station in Rukungiri Town]. In addition, Besigye was one of the bright minds at the time who went on to pursue a Bachelors Degree of Medicine & Surgery at the prestigious Makerere University, Kampala [by that time - even today - medicine was for the brightest minds in the country].

After his studies, Besigye went to work as a medical Doctor at Agha Khan Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya which is one of the best health facilities in the world at a time when medical education was highly prized and medical Doctors were in short supply.

He never stopped at that, he left the comfort of his well paying job at Agha Khan Hospital in Nairobi in the early 1980’s to join Yoweri Kaguta Museveni in the Bush and liberate the country from a dictatorship of Obote II.

In 1999, as a high ranking military official, he openly broke ranks with president Museveni for diverting from the core objectives that took them to the gruelling 5 year bush war that left an enormous destruction on people’s property and caused an enormous loss of life to the country.  Since then, he has sustained the struggle against the Museveni dictatorship, not on personal hatred as some people would like to assume but on principle.

Despite his status, he has constantly suffered enormous public humiliations at the hands of a brutal regime through constant arrests and torture but remained on track. I had spent long without meeting him physically, but recently on his campaign trail in Western Uganda, I had an opportunity to have a long chat with him at Travelers Inn Hotel, Fort Portal on 15^th December, 2015 at night.

Together, with the District Executive headed by Ms. Nyakato Rusoke and the national FDC campaign team including FDC President, Maj. Gen. Mugisha Muntu, Ms. Ingrid Turinawe, Hon. Nzou Stephen (MP) and the Rukungiri Municipality MP among others we discussed wide ranging issues like the progress of the 2016 campaign, FDC manifesto among others.

Dr. Besigye was still the same person I met in 2011 with the same zeal and determination to liberate the country from dictatorship and create opportunities for Ugandans.

    

A centre where Uganda youth get friendly health services

I felt touched, shocked and sympathy finding many young pregnant girls and many young people unwell because of suffering caused by STDs like HIV/AIDs which are preventable and manageable although considered a curse in many of our communities. The interesting things were also quite many.

This was during a visit to Naguru Teenage and Information Centre (NTIC) in Kampala, Uganda with other African journalists from countries like Nigeria, Zambia, Uganda, etc on Monday, 19^th May 2015. The Centre is located in an upscale Kampala area of Bugolobi.

However, on the other hand, the visit was interesting and quite surprising because it was new to me since I come from a rural area finding many entertaining activities like games for many young Uganda girls and boys in a health facility.

In many health facilities especially in the rural areas where I come from, many health workers are not friendly and the environment looks intimidating in addition to lack of adequate facilities like drugs which was not the case at NTIC.

The many entertaining activities are aimed at making them feel at home when accessing the health services according to one of the staff we found at the reception.  

Naguru Teenage Information Centre

We were ushered in the centre by the centre coordinator called Martin Byamugisha who was very friendly. I noticed many interesting things which are youth friendly like a TV screen playing the latest movies, many indoor games like darts, a big hall capable of accommodating between 50 – 70 people at a time.

The centre is also well located in a hideout just behind Kiswa Health Centre III to ensure the privacy of the young people when accessing health services.

Another interesting observation was the many condom boxes which were pinned on the notice board of the centre for the youth accessing the centre to use for free whenever they needed them.

I also found the darts board very interesting because it had all the information about the centre and the services that it offers to the youth meaning that you would ‘kill two birds with one stone’ by playing darts at the same time understanding the many services offered by the centre.

Also, most of the walls at the centre were covered with posters with great pictures of celebrities like Bobi Wine taking about sexual reproductive health, like HIV/AIDS, teenage pregnancy, condoms, etc.

Amazed by the interesting services offered by the centre, I decided to venture further and had a discussion about the centre with one of the beneficiary who had come to access treatment.

“They have good treatment for many diseases and communicate well with us, besides, I don’t need to pay any money to access services.” Said one of the Teenagers called John, not his real name

John adds, “I fear to tell my parents when suffering some diseases like gonorrhoea because they will think I play sex. However, I don’t fear sharing my problems with the staff at the centre.” 

The trip was supported by Radio Netherlands Training Centre (RNTC)