Warren Kizza Besigye Kifefe (; born 22 April 1956), known as Colonel Dr. Kizza Besigye, is a Ugandan physician, politician, and former military officer in the Uganda People's Defence Force. He served as the president of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) political party and was an unsuccessful candidate in Uganda's 2001, 2006, 2011, and 2016 presidential elections, losing all of them to the incumbent, Yoweri Museveni, who has been president of Uganda since 26 January 1986. The results of the 2006 elections were contested in court, and the court found massive rigging and disenfranchisement. Besigye allowed an early internal FDC election for a successor president, which took place on 24 November 2012.
Early life and family
Warren Kizza Besigye Kifefe was born in Rwakabengo, Rukungiri Municipality, Rukungiri District, southwestern Uganda, on 22 April 1956. The second born in a family of 6, both his parents died before he finished primary school. His father was a policeman. He went to Kinyasano Primary School and Mbarara Junior School for his Primary school education. He later joined Kampala's Kitante High School for his Ordinary Levels and then Kigezi High School in Kabale District for his Advanced Level education.
Besigye enrolled at Makerere University in 1975 and graduated with a degree in human medicine in 1980. While in the bush, he became Yoweri Museveni's personal physician. When the National Resistance Movement and Army (NRM/A) came to power in January 1986, he was appointed Minister of State for Internal Affairs. He later held the positions of Minister of State in the President's office and National Political Commissar. In 1991, he became commanding officer of the mechanized regiment in Masaka, central Uganda, and in 1993 was appointed the army's chief of logistics and engineering.
On 7 July 1999, Besigye married Winnie Byanyima, a Ugandan Member of Parliament, in Nsambya, Kampala.
Career
After graduating, Besigye briefly worked at Mulago National Hospital. He later went into exile in Kenya. While there, he applied to the Medical Board for registration to work as a doctor. After getting registered, he applied for and received a job at the Aga Khan Hospital, and then started working as a doctor and later at Kenyatta National Hospital before joining Museveni's rebel National Resistance Movement/Army (NRM/A) in 1982.
Political life
In 1999, Besigye wrote a document critical of the government, "An Insider's View of How the NRM Lost the Broad Base". The document accused the NRM of becoming a sectarian kleptocracy and a one-man dictatorship. Besigye was charged before a court-martial for "airing his views in the wrong forum". He brokered a deal in 2000 in which the charges were dropped in exchange for an apology for publishing the document.
In October 2000, Besigye announced that he would run against Museveni in the 2001 elections. He retired from the Uganda People's Defence Forces in 2001, having attained the rank of colonel. During his campaign, Besigye, who was Museveni's strongest opponent, accused the government of widespread corruption and pushed for an end to Museveni's "Movement" system, which he said had served its purpose as an instrument in Uganda's political transition to multiparty democracy.
He lost the election, which was marred by claims of widespread vote rigging, violence and coercion of voters. In March 2001 Besigye petitioned the Supreme Court to nullify the election results. A panel of five judges voted 5–0 that there had been cheating but decided 3–2 not to annul the elections.
In June 2001, Besigye was briefly arrested and questioned by the police over allegations of treason. The government accused him of being behind a shadowy rebel group, the People's Redemption Army (PRA), allegedly based in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Besigye's supporters said the government had fabricated the existence of the insurgents to harm his credibility among Ugandans and the international community.
In August 2001, Besigye fled the country, citing persecution by the state. He said he was afraid for his life. He lived in South Africa for four years, during which time he continued to criticise Museveni's government. Besigye returned to Uganda on 26 October 2005, just in time to register as a voter in the 2006 elections. He was greeted by thousands and hit the campaign trail almost immediately, addressing throngs of supporters across the country. In November 2005, William Lacy Swing, the United Nations special envoy to the Great Lakes region, confirmed the existence of the PRA, naming it as one of the foreign, armed groups operating in the eastern DRC.