Former presidential candidate Kizza Besigye has accused President Museveni of masterminding corruption in the country.
He made this revelation while addressing the media at his Katonga road office on Monday morning. The retired army officer questioned the President’s recent campaign against corruption.
Over the last month, President Museveni has been vocal about corruption. This started during his State of the Nation Address in June. During the address, the President revealed that he had unearthed a racket of corruption pinning Parliamentary staff and officials at the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development. Following the President’s revelations, five MPs have been arrested on corruption-related charges.
However, according to the four-time presidential candidate, this recent move by the President is comical. He wondered where President Museveni has been all these years as corruption isn’t new in the country.
“This corruption didn’t start in government. We started dealing with corruption in the Bush. Few people would grab supplies we received. The commanders would grab items ranging from shoes to trousers from the lower cadres.” Kizza Besigye.
He also challenged the President on how the government handled the privatization of public parastatals. According to Besigye, this was the start of institutionalized corruption in the NRM government. He cited the results of privatization that saw most of the entities crumble.
Besigye decried nepotism
During the same media engagement, Kizza Besigye decried the rampant levels of nepotism in government. He particularly questioned the president for appointing his relatives in the cabinet. According to Kizza Besigye, this is a blunder as it’s hard to question relatives.
Besigye also offered partial defense to MPs during a time when Parliament is plagued by corruption scandals. Kizza Besigye said that MPs are pushed to these actions because of the corrupt system. He noted that the majority cannot win elections without bribing voters.
The former FDC president also questioned the involvement of the statehouse in all developments in the country. This, according to Besigye, has cast a bad image against the President as he’s involved in everything.
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