Pallade Veneta - Besigye kidnapping: Uganda president's doctor turned rival

The one-time close ally of President Yoweri Museveni fell out of favour with the iron-fisted strongman more than two decades ago and has become one of his harshest critics.

Frequently targeted by the authorities ever since, the four-time presidential candidate was reportedly kidnapped in Kenya this weekend and transported to a Kampala military prison.

Besigye, 68, was the trusted personal physician to Museveni during the bush war in Uganda from 1980 to 1986 that led to the overthrow of president Milton Obote, and he went on to hold several ministerial posts.

But he was banished after writing a letter in 1999 that criticised the Museveni regime as a one-man dictatorship.

The retired army colonel first ran against Museveni in 2001 and fled to South Africa for four years after losing, while still speaking out against the regime.

He established the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) with other disaffected Museveni allies, although he recently broke away to form another party.

Besigye ran again against his former patient in 2006 but spent most of the campaign defending himself against rape and treason charges that the High Court later found were trumped up.

He clocked up his third and fourth straight electoral defeats in 2011 and 2016, and decided against running in 2021, instead backing pop star-turned-politician Bobi Wine.

An imposing figure, Besigye is frequently accused of nursing a personal grudge against Museveni instead of offering an alternative vision for his country.

"What happened in 1999 was that I just wrote a critique and handed it over to Museveni. I said, 'These things are going wrong.' That is all I did," he once told AFP in his distinctive gravelly voice.

"Up to now, that memo has never been discussed."

- Personal grudge? -

Known by supporters as either The Colonel or Doctor, Besigye hails from Rukungiri in western Uganda.

He lacks Museveni's rough charisma and generally appeals more to the educated urban elite, particularly in Kampala, while the president remains popular among peasant farmers.

He split from the FDC earlier this year after a dispute with other leaders over the alleged use of "dirty money" in its 2021 election campaign.

He founded the People's Front for Freedom (PFF) which applied for registration in August.

But he is still nagged by suggestions that his defection from government was borne of a personal grudge.

He has tacitly acknowledged to AFP what many in Kampala regard as an open secret: that before their marriage, Besigye's wife was romantically involved with the president.

Winnie Byanyima, who he married in 1999, is currently the executive director of UNAIDS and was previously head of the UK-based charity Oxfam.

"By the time I got into a relationship with Winnie, she had absolutely nothing to do with Museveni," he said.

M.Romero--PV