In the 2001 presidential election, the first in which now remanded opposition leader Dr Kizza Besigye took part in, President Yoweri Museveni made a shocking allegations. The president said Besigye had HIV/AIDS.
All hell nearly broke loose for two reasons: Besigye was Museveni personal physician, and Winnie Byanyima (Besigye’s wife) had been in a relationship with Museveni.
Museveni said he was not shaken by Besigye who he said had AIDS. He also described Winnie Byanyima, now the UNAIDS Executive Director, as “nasty.”
“I’m not bothered by Besigye; it’s good to have these kinds of people, they bring up issues that should be addressed. The election has been a good cleansing process,” Museveni told TIME.
“Besigye is just suffering from AIDS and Winnie is just a nasty lady.” Simon Kaggwa Njala, a Ugandan journalist who covered the 2001 election, remembers how explosive Museveni’s statement was and how Winnie Byanyima threatened to reveal some really deep secrets.
“At the height of the 2001 campaigns, when President Museveni decampaigned Besigye and claimed he had HIV/AIDS, Winnie Byanyima, while at the now Constitutional Square clapped back threatening to spill secrets about Museveni with whom they once had an affair,” recalled Njala.
“I covered that rally. I can’t wait to read her book.”
After losing the March 12, 2001 election, Besigye challenged the results in the Supreme Court of Uganda. The matter of Museveni’s allegations that Besigye had AIDs came up.
And Museveni moved to respond. Lawyers Mwesigwa Rukutana (former minister), Sam Bitangaro, Didas Nkurunziza, Andrew Kasirye, William Byaruhanga (former Attorney General), Moses Kimuli, Kiryowa Kiwanuka (current Attorney General) and Ferdinand Natsomi delivered Museveni’s defence to the Supreme Court.
Museveni listed a one Judith Bitwire, who he believed to have been Besigye’s ex-lover, and her child, as evidence that his opponent had AIDS.
“I have known him [Dr Kizza Besigye] for a long time and I made the statement honestly, believing it to be true and I still do because a woman called Judith Bitwire, with whom he cohabited and his child died of AIDS, in addition to his bodily appearance which bears a strong resemblance to other AIDS victims I have observed in the past,” his affidavit read in part.
In the Supreme Court, Museveni’s lead lawyer Dr Joseph Byamugisha said the president believed that it was up to the opposition leader to do an AIDS test and prove the claims wrong.
“Museveni is not required to prove that Besigye has AIDS. It is up to Besigye to prove that he does not have AIDS,” Byamugisha submitted.
“Why doesn’t he say he has been tested and was found not to be positive? If he wants court to prove that he has no AIDS, he must provide diagnosis and proof.”
To complicate matters, a woman named Marita Namayanja came up to tell court of claims that she knew of three of Besigye’s former “women friends” who died of AIDS.
In the end, then Chief Justice Benjamin Odoki ruled that Besigye had failed to prove that Museveni’s statement was wrong.
“… the Petitioner (Besigye) has failed to establish to my satisfaction that the statement made by the 1st Respondent (Museveni) that the Petitioner had AIDS was false. In fact in this case there was no shifting of the burden of adducing evidence on the question of falsity or absence of reasonable grounds because the Petitioner did not establish a prima facie case on either of these ingredients.
Nevertheless the 1st Respondent adduced credible evidence to prove his grounds for holding that the statement he made that the Petitioner was not false. And that he knew or believed on reasonable grounds to be true. Having failed to prove these two crucial elements, the Petitioner has failed to prove that the 1st Respondent committed the alleged illegal practice… That being the case, it is not necessary to consider whether the statement was intended to promote or procure the election of the 1st Respondent.”
Last week, Winnie Byanyima spoke out on her past love relationship with President Museveni. But Museveni’s son and army chief Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba fired back, saying Winnie was a home wrecker and one Museveni threw out of his house. To which, Winnie Byanyima responded to Muhoozi with the now famous “Iwe Mwana We Yetware” statement. (See Details Here, There and Over There).
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