Four-time presidential candidate, Dr. Kizza Besigye has emphasized that the change the country urgently needs right now is not of a generational leader, but involves shifting power from gunmen first.

In an interview yesterday, Besigye noted, “There is a new generation who claim to want a generational leader. This is not about generational leader, we are not looking for a generational leader,” he said.

Besigye revealed that they are not fighting to change a leader, but rather fighting to change power.

“Therefore, those who are talking about generational leader, they are the ones trying to confuse people. Because whether old or young, when the procedure is the same, things can’t change.”

He made it clear that transition is removing power from gun owners and giving it back to the people.

“Everybody must understand that the struggle we are undertaking is a struggle to shift power from gun men, those who control power by force and giving it to the population. It is not a struggle of generation from old generation to young generation.”

He asserted that, “Today, there is no judicial power, that is why running to court is problematic because you go to court when it is not your court. It is a court of Mr. Museveni, he is the one who appoints all these people to serve him.

“And the courts will serve those who have power, but if people have power, they will serve the people, if the generals have power, they will serve the generals and that is how institutions work.”

Besigye however maintained that currently, it doesn’t matter which party leads because political parties are democratic institutions that function in a democratic environment, and they cannot function in an environment of state capture.

“State capture also captures the parties. That is why I was saying that all these parties will be captured. Just like Akena captured Uganda People’s Congress (UPC) and handed it over to those who captured the country, Mao captured Democratic Party (DP) and handed it over to those who captured the country,” he stressed.

Besigye insisted that because the country is captured, parties cannot survive where there is a state capture.

“And not only parties but also organisations. That is why you see even civil society organisations captured. So, the question is how to free the country from capture,” Besigye said.

Besigye opined that the way to get out of captivity is through a struggle.

“Just like one that removed us from colonial rule. An election was not organised by the British to determine whether we should be free or not, no, we struggled until they realised they could not hold power anymore and that is what we must do.”

Besigye detailed that there are three steps that those yearning for change have to go through to win freedom.

He stated, “First, everybody must understand the situation of captivity and so the first task we all have is to awaken peoples’ consciousness for them to understand the situation they are in and how it is not about to improve.

“The second thing is to organise so that we can have a network of leaders through which we can communicate so that if there is anything that we need to do, it is easy for everybody to get the message quickly.

“And the third step is action. And then the transition is over.”

“Whether it is NRM or DP, whoever is freely elected becomes the leader of the country and under the law, controlled by the people because it is the people who have put him into power. So leaders become servants not owners,” Besigye said.

By Kalamira Hope