Maverick Kira Municipality legislator Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda has revealed that the first thing that he planned to ask his political god father Dr Kizza Besigye once he meets him again at Luzira prison where he is being jailed is what he thinks about the news of the death of Raila Odinga.
Ssemujju of the People’s Front for Freedom (PFF) said that in 2015 when opposition members in Uganda were fighting to form a political coalition to front a single opposition presidential candidate, Odinga, being a good friend and a supporter of Dr Besigye sent his blue-eyed boy Prof. Anyang’ Nyong’o to guide and also compromise other opposition people to stand with him.
“I was shocked to see Odinga moving around without making any statement about Dr Kizza Besigye and Hajji Obed Lutale’s kidnap in Kenya. I was thought that of all top politicians in Africa, Odinga was going to be the last person to betray Besigye but anyway, betraying comrades was Odinga’s style of playing politics,” Ssemujju said
This website has learnt that it was hard for PFF president who is also Kampala Lord Mayor Ssalongo Erias Lukwago to comment on the death of Odinga who they accuse of being a political merchant who always changes his political goals to achieve his personal benefits.
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“I saw Lukwago standing between a rock and a hard place. Marth Karua the lead counsel in Dr Besigye’s treason case was addressing the press assuring them that Besigye was devastated with Odinga’s death but inside him, he knew that he betrayed his political comrade,” a source in PFF top leadership told this website
Besigye and Lutale were kidnapped from Kenya in November 2024, driven back to Kampala and charged with offences related to treason in the military court before being transferred to a civilian Court.
State alleges that by the time Besigye and his other co-accused were arrested, they were planning to assassinate President Museveni, poison top government officials and overthrow his government, allegations that the accused deny.
Ssemujju was supported by Lwemiyaga county legislator Theodora Ssekikubo who said that Odinga was a very selfish politician.
Ssekikubo narrated how he used his political influence in Kenya on place President Dr William Ruto on the wall hence resulting into a meeting at president Museveni’s Gomba farm.
He added that because the opportunity to front a candidate to vie for the position of African Union chairperson in the East Africa countries fell to Uganda, Ruto had to compromise Museveni who was prepared to front either John Patrick Amama Mbabazi or Ruhakana Rugunda both former Prime Ministers to contest for the slot to drop the idea and support Odinga, a deal which Museveni accepted.
He narrated how Odinga betrayed Dr Miguna Miguna a man who stood with him when his victory was stolen in the 2017 Kenyan presidential elections when he joined President Uhuru Kenyatta who exiled him. But Odinga just looked on because he wanted to protect his family’s wealth.
Lukwago said that he knows what it means to facilitate the swearing in of a presidential candidate who has not been declared a winner by the electoral commission because he did it for Dr Besigye after the 2016 presidential election and together with Besigye, they were slapped with treason charges and imprisoned.
“ I can feel what Dr Miguna Miguna went through sending himself into exile after facilitating Odinga’s swearing in ceremony and declaring him a people’s president. Suprisingly, he then turned against him and sealed a political deal with a person who stole their victory,” Lukwago said
However, Charles Rwomushana a political analysts said that whatever Odinga did, he did it for the good of his country noting that if it was not for his political calculations, Kenya would have taken the political route that Uganda is currently on without democracy and Rule of Law but only military law.
He added that because Odinga was a strong peace maker, and a Pan Africanists, when political turmoil broke out in South Sudan, he was assigned by his president as his envoy to go to Cuba and assess the situation before president Ruto addressed the East African heads of State as their chairperson, but he was shocked with the response he received from President Salver Kiir.
“If it was another person, he wouldn’t have addressed the media and reveal to the world that president Kiir told him that the only way he will accept to see his vice president Riek Machar is through getting permission from President Museveni. Odinga was shocked and asked Kiir whether South Sudan is still an independent country,” Rwomushana said
He added that because Odinga wanted to bring peace back to South Sudan, he traveled to Kampala on that day to engage Museveni who promised to give him a call when everything is settled so that they meet Machar. He disclosed that this gesture exonerates Odinga from being a political merchant to a pursuer of peace.
