The People’s Front for Freedom (PFF) party has released a new message from its founding leader, Dr. Kizza Besigye, warning the party is against joining the ongoing talks with Gen Salim Saleh.
In a statement shared by the PFF party and also attributed to Dr. Kizza Besigye, who remains in detention, it reveals that Besigye has never met Gen Saleh, which is contrary to the narrative set by Saleh after he revealed that he encountered Besigye in detention and ordered his transfer to the first-class medical facility to receive specialized treatment.
“I have never met Gen Saleh,” Besigye said in the message.
Besigye allegedly warned that the proposed engagement with Gen Saleh is not a genuine dialogue but a calculated trap by the regime to weaken and destroy the opposition from within.
“PFF must not enter the Saleh Talks. It is a trap. A trap to eat up, swallow, and kill the opposition from inside,” the statement read in part.
According to the PFF party, Besigye urged the party leadership and members not to trade the country’s freedom in closed-door meetings, insisting that the struggle for change must remain with the people.
“Do not negotiate our freedom away in boardrooms. Take our alternative ideas to the people, to the media, to the villages, to the streets and to every Ugandan who is suffering. No deals behind closed doors. No surrender dressed as dialogue. No opposition for sale,” Besigye said.
The PFF revealed that Besigye’s message is a reaffirmation of the party’s founding principles of people-centered resistance, transparency, and refusal to be co-opted by the state.
According to the party officials, they will remain firm on Besigye’s position and will not participate in any dialogue that is not open, transparent, and anchored on the demands of the Ugandan people.
Meanwhile, PFF has continued to campaign for Besigye’s release, maintaining that his detention is politically motivated, adding that Besigye’s message is meant to guide its members at a time when several opposition figures are being invited for talks with the government.
However, while PFF maintains its no-go position concerning National dialogue, some opposition political parties have given the green light to dialogue, urging that it’s the only avenue for a peaceful transition of power in Uganda.
