UGANDA / LEGAL POLITICAL JUGGLING – A witness in the rape trial of Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye says President Yoweri Museveni ordered the rape investigation against Dr. Besigye. Elizabeth Kuteesa, the director of the Criminal Investigations Directorate, testified in court Thursday as a state witness that President Museveni's directive came to her through the then-inspector general of police, Gen. Katumba Wamala.
Since his release from prison on bail more than a week ago, Dr. Besigye continues to juggle campaigning for the presidential election next month and going to court for his rape trial. He told Voice of America reporter James Butty that it’s been difficult. “It’s extremely destructive because for the most part I do not know when I will be in court and when I will be campaigning. The court decides from day to day whether we shall we shall sit the next day or two days after, and therefore I cannot make a comprehensive campaign plan that will cover the whole country.”
Dr. Besigye says the charges against him were politically motivated intended to undermine his campaign. He says his Forum for Democratic Change Party has been holding discussions with other political parties with a view to considering a common strategy and a possibly having a common candidate at the presidential and parliamentary levels.