Opposition leader, Dr Kizza Besigye, has told his supporters to roll their sleeves and organise more public protests until the NRM government is forced out of power.
He said the ground is ripe for popular protests to force a regime change even before 2016. Besigye was the main face of the walk-to-work protests which rocked Kampala and other major towns a couple of weeks ago. The protests lost steam after he was violently arrested and had to seek medical treatment abroad.
With the general discontent within the population, it is possible to have the regime out of power before 2016, Besigye said, adding that what is lacking is a clear and strategic leadership to mobilise the masses.
He told his party that their focus should not be on capturing power in 2016, but long before then. Besigye was presenting the key-note address at the opening of a two-day FDC retreat at the Ankrah Foundation in Mukono municipality on Saturday.
Under the theme Auditing the 2011 Elections: What Next?, the retreat, which attracted many party members, especially those that lost in the elections, sought to assess what went wrong in those elections, and to strategise for the next polls in 2016.
Besigyes performance in the 2011 elections was his worst since he first contested for the presidency in 2001. He garnered only 26% of the vote, a decline from the 37% he scored in the 2006 elections.
The party also suffered major losses in parliamentary and local council elections. For instance, FDC secured only 29 seats in the 9th Parliament, compared to 37 in the previous House.
Besigye said the party now needs to raise the peoples consciousness such that they come out and wrestle power from the NRM regime the Tunisia-Egypt style.
Im sure the price of fuel is going to increase next week because of the dollar, which [increase in fuel price] will push prices further up. KACITA [Kampala City Traders Association] is going to demonstrate. The ground is ripe for a change of regime even before 2016, Besigye stressed.
To exploit the prevailing discontent, he suggested that the party members should link peoples suffering to corruption in government and cause masses to pour onto the streets peacefully to demand a change of government. Another fertile ground is students, especially those in universities and other tertiary institutions, Besigye pointed out.
He said the students are disgruntled because of the exorbitant tuition fees and only need to be organised for mass protests.
Target students in all these universities that are paying Shs 3 million for a semester; there is already massive discontent, he said.
He said the ground is ripe for popular protests to force a regime change even before 2016. Besigye was the main face of the walk-to-work protests which rocked Kampala and other major towns a couple of weeks ago. The protests lost steam after he was violently arrested and had to seek medical treatment abroad.
With the general discontent within the population, it is possible to have the regime out of power before 2016, Besigye said, adding that what is lacking is a clear and strategic leadership to mobilise the masses.
He told his party that their focus should not be on capturing power in 2016, but long before then. Besigye was presenting the key-note address at the opening of a two-day FDC retreat at the Ankrah Foundation in Mukono municipality on Saturday.
Under the theme Auditing the 2011 Elections: What Next?, the retreat, which attracted many party members, especially those that lost in the elections, sought to assess what went wrong in those elections, and to strategise for the next polls in 2016.
Besigyes performance in the 2011 elections was his worst since he first contested for the presidency in 2001. He garnered only 26% of the vote, a decline from the 37% he scored in the 2006 elections.
The party also suffered major losses in parliamentary and local council elections. For instance, FDC secured only 29 seats in the 9th Parliament, compared to 37 in the previous House.
Besigye said the party now needs to raise the peoples consciousness such that they come out and wrestle power from the NRM regime the Tunisia-Egypt style.
Im sure the price of fuel is going to increase next week because of the dollar, which [increase in fuel price] will push prices further up. KACITA [Kampala City Traders Association] is going to demonstrate. The ground is ripe for a change of regime even before 2016, Besigye stressed.
To exploit the prevailing discontent, he suggested that the party members should link peoples suffering to corruption in government and cause masses to pour onto the streets peacefully to demand a change of government. Another fertile ground is students, especially those in universities and other tertiary institutions, Besigye pointed out.
He said the students are disgruntled because of the exorbitant tuition fees and only need to be organised for mass protests.
Target students in all these universities that are paying Shs 3 million for a semester; there is already massive discontent, he said.
