By Aggrey Baba
[Time, just like an uncontrolled horse, never stops for anyone]. And in Uganda’s political arena, time has reshaped friendships, alliances, and the very ideals that once bound comrades together.
The latest voice to echo from the corridors of history is none other than Winnie Byanyima, a former bush war associate of President Yoweri M7, wife to detained opposition figure Dr. Kizza Besigye, and a woman with a story many are yet to hear in full.
In a revealing statement at the National Unity Platform (NUP) headquarters, recently, Byanyima disclosed that her father, Boniface Byanyima, once played a critical role in Museveni’s life, caring for his mother, Estero Kokundeka, for two years while the future president waged his war in the bush.
Byanyima’s father, a veteran politician and one-time national chairman of the Democratic Party, who passed away in November 2008, was among the respected figures of his time. However, his kindness toward M7’s family has not translated into mercy for his son-in-law, Dr. Besigye, who remains behind bars despite his deteriorating health.
As if pulling back the curtain on a chapter long buried, Byanyima also admitted in a recent interview with Next Radio’s Canary Mugume that she had a past relationship with M7.
However, she asserted that this should not be mixed with the pressing issue of Besigye’s imprisonment. “That was then. It does not matter now,” she stated firmly, hinting that more untold stories lie within the pages of her upcoming book.
This come at a time when Uganda finds itself revisiting ghosts of the past. A resurfaced interview from the mid 2000s, conducted by The Observer as part of a powerful journalistic project titled ‘The Museveni I Knew’, sheds further light on Museveni’s early years and the fractures that grew between him and those who once stood by his side.
In the interview, Boniface Byanyima recounts how he warned his daughter (Winnie Byanyima) against joining M7’s government, branding him “not a reliable character.” Even M7’s own marriage proposal was met with rejection.
“M7 came here proposing marriage. He wanted to marry her, which I opposed. I told my daughter that Museveni was not a reliable character. I think it was in 1987. By then, he was married to Janet Kataha. I knew that,” The old man stated in the interview.
He further revealed that M7’s father, Amos Kaguta, had first approached him with a marriage proposal on his sons behalf, but he turned it down. Later, when M7 himself, now president, came to plead his case, Byanyima still refused. “I said no. If she wants, it will be her responsibility. Me, I don’t want that.”
The Observer project, led by journalist Henry Benon Oluka, was launched at a crucial political moment, when M7 was pushing to scrap constitutional term limits in 2005, a move that would allow him to extend his stay in power indefinitely.
Many of those interviewed were former allies who believed M7 had strayed from the ideals of the original Movement.
Now, as Besigye languishes in detention and Byanyima prepares to unveil her full story, the question on everyone’s lips is whether history will repeat itself, or time will sort the situation. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
