By Aggrey Baba
Uganda People’s Congress (UPC) president Jimmy Akena has fired back at the NRM over suggestions that he should flee Uganda, declaring that he would rather remain in his country and face political threats than abandon the people he represents and cares about.
Akena says he has the option of relocating to Zambia or Tanzania but has refused to seek exile because Uganda is his home and he believes that political intimidation should never become a reason for opposition leaders to surrender their right to participate in national affairs.
His declaration comes after the NRM Secretary General Richard Todwong reportedly questioned why he was not in exile.
But Akena has turned the question around, insisting that those who expect him to leave should not mistake his determination to remain in Uganda for an absence of fear or threats.
“I’m not in exile because I refuse to go to exile. I could go to Zambia. I could go back to Tanzania, but I don’t want to go to exile because this is my country,” he said.
In an unusually direct disclosure, Akena confirmed that he considers his life to be under threat and revealed that the pressure sometimes extends to people he loves and cares about.
“My life is under threat. It has been under threat. Like many other leaders, we live under threat,” he said.
He also accused the security forces of interfering with opposition political activities and creating an environment in which political leaders are expected to submit quietly rather than challenge government decisions.
The UPC president said he would not surrender that responsibility, regardless of the consequences.
He also delivered another devastating verdict on the country’s electoral process, describing the January 2026 general election as fraudulent and incapable of passing any credible democratic test.
“The last election was stolen openly, left, right and centre. They are not credible elections. They can never pass as credible elections,” he said.
Akena questioned how people who claim to have fought in the bush to establish democracy could preside over an electoral process that he considers a betrayal of those ideals.
He said Uganda is a republic and that the presidency must remain subject to the will of the people, not the wishes of powerful individuals.
He further questioned the country’s political transition, warning that uncertainty over who the transition is intended to benefit is undermining confidence in the country’s future.
Akena linked the uncertainty to wider economic concerns, including the pressure on the Uganda shilling, arguing that investors and citizens need confidence in the country’s political direction.
But the UPC leader’s most emphatic message was that he would not be chased out of his country, and that his recent journey to honour historical political figures had renewed his commitment to political struggle, reminding him that earlier generations of African leaders endured enormous difficulties while fighting for their people.
He recalled how some of those leaders campaigned on bicycles, improvising with pieces of glass when their tires repeatedly got punctured so they could continue spreading their political message.
Akena said their example had strengthened his determination to continue speaking out, insisting that intimidation, threats and political pressure would not silence him or force him into exile. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
