Col Kizza Besigye is well known for his liberalism while associating with regime protagonists despite the political persecution the state subjected him to since he broke ranks with President Museveni in 1999.
However, former Electoral Commission (EC) Chairman Prof Badru Kiggundu has a completely different narrative of Col Kizza Besigye- a four time presidential contender.
Kiggundu nominated Besigye three times as a presidential candidate including 2006 when the most powerful opposition leader was behind bars in Luzira on rape charges.
Whereas the regime had pressed Kiggundu and his commissioners on the wall not to nominate Besigye, the soft-spoken Engineer defied the odds and considered him in absentia.
But for the years that followed Besigye never had kind words for Kiggundu until his term at Jinja road based EC offices expired.
The duo had several times traded a tirade of outbursts in the media with accusations and counter- accusations of vote rigging and promoting radicalism.
At some point Kiggundu dared Besigye to involve his son and wife into street protests when the later announced he would stage a demo at EC offices in 2015.
Many times Besigye labelled EC, “The Kiggundu Commission.”
Speaking in an interview with UBC journalist recently in a video that has widely circulated on social media, Kiggundu revealed that he met Besigye face to face, only once at Parliament of Uganda.
“But I think I met him by accident,” Kiggundu said.
According to Kiggundu, he had gone to convey message of comfort to Leader of Opposition in Parliament (LOP) then Prof Ogenga Latigo who had been involved in an accident in 2009.
“When I reached in his office, there was no one. However, I saw a threatening face that I knew. I was very scared,” he said.
Kiggundu added that on getting closer, it was Kizza Besigye seated and no one else was in the room.
“I extended by hand to greet him. But instead he lifted his eyes and responded……ohhhhhh Dr Kiggundu….you are a bad man.”
“…..You failed my presidency….I replied that you should blame yourself.”
Kiggundu said that he told Besigye some of the reasons he failed to be president of Uganda were his aggressive character and hate speech.
“He didn’t shake my hand, and I told him goodbye. I then went out of the office wondering whether Prof Latigo had tricked me into meeting Besigye,” Kiggundu concluded.