When Mayombo blocked Besigye from going to Kenya in 2001

Among prominent retired soldiers in Africa, Dr Kizza Besigye (colonel) and Olusegun Obasanjo (general) of Nigeria, have a passion for rearing large pigs.

In 1982, when Besigye was going to join the National Resistance Army (NRA) war, the vehicle he was travelling in knocked dead a pig which was crossing the road.

And on arrival at the NRA camp at Kitemamasanga, Semuto in Luwero, he received military training.

Then he served in the mobile forces of the NRA as the in-charge of medical services. His medical team worked along with herbalists like Hajji Abdul Nadduli and a witchdoctor, Malita Namayanja alias Maama Chama, who was a relative of MP Theodore Ssekikubo.

Between Nadduli and Malita, Besigye liked Malita more. He once praised her: “She (Malita) had one cow called Tusuubira (we are hopeful) which she looked after like a child, and it reciprocated by giving her a lot of milk. She would dilute the milk many times over and prepare tea with it for all soldiers who stopped by.”

During the war, Besigye is credited for rescuing the life of NRA commander, Yoweri Museveni, when he fainted while climbing a hill. Museveni confirmed the incident during the 2020 Afrika Kwetu trek. He recollected: “On Bulaga hill, I fainted, but Dr Besigye gave me re-hydration salts and I resumed the match.”

Owing to his service commitment, Besigye was appointed as the director of medical services in 1985, a post he held until the NRA seized state power on January 26, 1986.

Service in government

Following the inauguration of Museveni as the President of Uganda on January 29, 1986, he appointed Besigye as the minister of state for internal affairs and deputised Paul Kawanga Ssemogerere. A year later, Besigye was moved to president’s office as minister. He was also the National Political Commissioner.

Besigye was dropped from Cabinet in 1991 and appointed commandant of the NRA mechanised unit in Masaka. In 1993, he was appointed chief of logistics and engineering in the NRA, now Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) army.

In 1998, Besigye was appointed adviser to the minister of defence, who was Steven Kavuma.

While serving as an adviser, Besigye issued a strongly worded 14-page document, in which he described Museveni’s Movement government as “dishonest, opportunistic and undemocratic”.

The document was titled, An insider’s view of how the NRM lost the broad base.

His presidential bid

Two days after Besigye issued the document, Museveni promoted the deputy director of Military Intelligence alias CMI, Noble Mayombo, from the military rank of major to lieutenant colonel. A pleased Mayombo advised Museveni to order for the prosecution of Besigye before the army court for expressing his views in a ‘wrong forum’. He also suggested that Besigye be demoted from colonel to captain.

Owing to the magnitude of residents of Rukungiri, like Brig. Jim Muhwezi, pleading with Museveni to pardon Besigye, he disregarded Mayombo’s advice.

Also, Museveni granted Besigye’s wish of retiring from the army. He retired on October 20, 2000. Shortly after retiring, he declared that he would compete for the presidency in 2001. And in the same month Besigye declared his presidential bid, Museveni elevated Mayombo to acting chief of CMI.

Meanwhile, Besigye addressed members of the Uganda Importers and Exporters Association in Kampala, on December 14, 2000.

He boasted to them: “Let me assure you on this, though I am out of the army, I am still with the army. I enjoy about 90% support there.

They are my friends. After rallies when I retire to my room, some call me, encourage and even assure me of their support.”

The moment the commander-in-chief of the original NRA (now UPDF), Museveni, got to know what Besigye had told the traders, he at once put aside the white cup he was holding and instructed the deputy army commander, Brig. Joram Mugume, to dismiss the claims.

Indeed, Mugume came up with a statement on December 16, stating: “The army cannot side with any candidate in the presidential, parliamentary or local elections.

The duty of the army is to defend the country and to uphold the Constitution. The UPDF will continue, as it has always done, to defend the democratic order.

Elections are being held according to the Constitution. The UPDF is duty-bound to support whichever presidential candidate is freely and fairly elected.”

On January 8, 2001, Besigye, clad in a black suit, white shirt, red necktie and black shoes, was duly declared a nominated presidential candidate by the Electoral Commission. He was nominated in the presence of his partner, Winnie Byanyima, who was dressed in a yellow kitenge.

The Electoral Commission gave him and the other presidential candidates each sh17.5m as facilitation for their campaigns, a new Toyota vehicle and security.

Besigye and other presidential candidates were prohibited from obtaining campaign funds from Sudan (Khartoum), the Democratic Republic of Congo) and Rwanda, which were considered hostile to Uganda.

After the campaigns, polling took place on March 12, 2001. The Electoral Commission declared the election outcome, with Museveni as the winner with 5,123,360 (69.33%). Besigye came second with 2,055,795 (27.82%).

Besigye did not accept the election outcome. Through his lawyer, Joseph Balikuddembe, he filed a petition with the Supreme Court on March 22. He paid sh400,000 as filling fees and sh1m as security for costs. Accordingly, the Supreme Court registrar, Masalu Musene, acknowledged the filing of the petition.

In the end, the justices of the Supreme Court admitted that there were irregularities during the 2001 election, but not substantial enough to cause the nullification of Museveni’s election.

Mayombo in action

After the Supreme Court verdict, Mayombo amplified CMI surveillance on Besigye. In an attempt to cause psychological torture to Besigye, Mayombo sent a copy of a letter to Besigye, which Mayombo claimed was written to Besigye by Kabanda, a commander of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels, thanking him for purchasing 200 guns for them (ADF). Upon receipt, Besigye dismissed the letter as bogus.

Mayombo went ahead and directed CMI squads to stop Besigye from travelling abroad.

And once Besigye realised it, he appeared on Radio One talk show, Spectrum, in March 2001, and vowed: “Let nobody tell you that because Mayombo ordered me to be stopped, I cannot pass through the airport. If I feel my life is threatened and wanted to go out of the country, Mayombo knows that I would leave. When we came to the bush (NRA war) from Nairobi, President Museveni knows that we travelled together on Lake Victoria. If I feel threatened, I can leave the country anytime.”

In May 2001, two months after Besigye made that vow, Mayombo left for official duty abroad. Before leaving, he instructed CMI squads to bar Besigye from travelling to Kenya. Besigye said he was going for a business meeting. He was to leave at 5:00am and return on the same day at 6:00pm.

Once Mayombo’s CMI blocked him at Entebbe airport, a fuming Besigye addressed the press at Bukoto and narrated the ordeal, stating: “I checked in normally, the immigration officers stamped my passport and I even got a boarding pass. I was stopped by a gentleman in the transit lounge who said he had received instructions from Mayombo not to allow me leave Entebbe. I asked the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) officials to put Mayombo’s order in writing and they refused. They said Mayombo had given them a phone number and that I should ring him. I do not see any reason why I should ring Mayombo. I argued with them until the aircraft left.”

The writer’s book, President Idi Amin: A narrative of his rule (1971- 1979), costs sh100,000 at Uganda Bookshop, Kampala.