By BM
Uganda’s Minister of Internal Affairs, Maj. Gen. (Rtd) Kahinda Otafiire, has delivered a scathing critique of the government’s continued detention of opposition leader Dr. Kizza Besigye, stating that it was unacceptable to keep any Ugandan behind bars without due process.
Speaking at the Sam Kalega Njuba Memorial Lecture in Kampala on Thursday, Otafiire called for Besigye to either be formally charged in court or released immediately.
He expressed deep concern that someone could be detained for eight months without any charges being brought before a court.
Otafiire, a senior figure in the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) and a veteran of Uganda’s liberation struggle, said that even if Besigye had committed an offense, the government was constitutionally obligated to prove it in court rather than detaining someone indefinitely without trial.
Until that happened, he added, the public would continue to see Besigye as innocent.
The minister acknowledged that his position might be unpopular within certain political circles but emphasized that speaking the truth was more important than maintaining political loyalty.
He warned that a failure to respect the rule of law could lead the country back into a period of political repression and violence.
Drawing from Uganda’s troubled past; Otafiire recalled witnessing disturbing events during Idi Amin’s regime.
He shared a personal memory of a man who had been publicly pardoned by Amin, only for his body to be discovered near the president’s residence days later.
He said it was this type of betrayal and lawlessness that had compelled him and others to take up arms against tyranny.
Otafiire argued that allowing such injustice to re-emerge would dishonor the sacrifices made during the struggle for a just government.
He criticized the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for its failure to provide any legal justification for Besigye’s continued detention, suggesting that if the state could not explain what crime had been committed, it had no right to keep a person imprisoned.
Dr. Kizza Besigye, a former personal physician to President Museveni, was arrested earlier in the year during protests against inflation and alleged corruption.
A long-time critic of the government and four-time presidential candidate, Besigye has endured numerous arrests over the years and become a symbol of opposition in Uganda.
His latest arrest has raised alarms both domestically and internationally, especially as several months have passed without any movement in the courts.
Legal experts and human rights organizations have widely described his continued detention as unconstitutional.
Using the memorial lecture as a platform for broader reflection, Otafiire likened the nation to a vehicle and said that once it starts veering off course, it becomes the duty of responsible leaders to steer it back before it crashes.
He encouraged politicians from all sides to resolve their disagreements through dialogue, warning that civil war leaves no true winners, only wounded survivors.
He cautioned against the use of force and legal manipulation to silence opposition, arguing that such practices would only create deeper divisions and further instability.
Uganda, he said, could not afford to repeat the cycles of internal conflict that had scarred its history.
He maintained that dissent should not be treated as a criminal offense and that the true danger lies in a government’s refusal to correct its errors.
Reflecting on his military training, Otafiire stated that the greatest generals were not those who won battles with weapons but those who avoided war altogether.
He lamented the fact that Uganda still pays debts for weapons purchased during the Amin era arms that, in his words, were turned against Ugandans themselves.
He emphasized that true victory lies in fairness, dialogue, and justice, not political repression.
He urged leaders within the NRM and the opposition to engage in honest conversation and to listen to voices of dissent, no matter how uncomfortable those voices might be.
He questioned how the government could understand people’s needs if it excluded them from national dialogue.
He concluded his address by asserting that justice is a right for all citizens, not a privilege reserved for a few.
Every act of protest, he said, even when unpopular, must be examined within a fair legal framework.
He reminded the audience that a court trial does not automatically lead to condemnation, it could just as easily result in acquittal, but insisted that the legal process must be upheld at all time.
Otafiire warned that what was at stake was more than Besigye’s personal freedom; it was the credibility and integrity of Uganda’s entire justice system.
When a state chooses to violate its own laws, he said, it risks eroding the very foundations on which the nation is built.
His speech ended to mixed reactions, some attendees gave a standing ovation, while others appeared visibly shaken by his remarks.
