Sources that attended a meeting by the Inter Party Organization of Dialogue -IPOD indicated that opposition leaders used the meeting to demand for the unconditional release of Dr Kizza Besigye, who is currently on remand at Luzira Prison on treason charges and Nakawa division MP Michael Kabaziguruka, now detained in Kigo.
Former presidential candidate Dr Kizza Besigye is displeased with a section of opposition members who met President Yoweri Museveni demanding for his release, Uganda Radio Network has learnt.
The request to free Besigye was presented to the president by Democratic Party Secretary General Mathias Nsubuga during a meeting held at State House, Entebbe on Saturday July 2.
The meeting was convened under the auspices of the Inter Party Organization for Dialogue (IPOD), a coalition that brings together all political parties represented in Parliament. These are National Resistance Movement (NRM), the Uganda People's Congress (UPC), and Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) and Democratic Party. It was formed in 2010.
The political parties resolved to meet president Museveni to discuss the current political situation and push for dialogue between aggrieved parties and government.
Sources from the meeting indicated that the opposition leaders used the meeting to demand for the unconditional release of Dr Kizza Besigye, who is currently on remand at Luzira Prison on treason charges and Nakawa division MP Michael Kabaziguruka, now detained in Kigo prison.
President Museveni however rejected their pleas saying the cases against the two FDC politicians had nothing to do with political oppression.
Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago who visited Besigye this afternoon in Luzira prison told journalists later that Dr Besigye condemned the visit, saying that opposition members should have consulted him first before making demands on his behalf.
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Lukwago, who was accompanied by Opposition Chief Whip and FDC spokesperson, Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda, says the opposition should not be begging government for Besigye's release.
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Besigye, who has been in Luzira since May, is expected to appear at the High Court in Kampala on July 11 for his bail hearing. Sources within the judiciary say the state served his production warrant for Besigye to appear before court.
Olive Eyotaru
Freelancer