Former Defence Minister and presidential advisor on peace and security, General David Tinyefuza (now Sejusa), has said those planning to take over power using talk shows and dialogue are reaming and only playing into the hands of President Museveni.
Sejusa was responding to a series of question on Twitter using an unverified handle @sejudav. In one of the replies Sejusa dismisses a story citing an attempt at peace talks between FDC strongman and leader of Opposition DR Kizza Besigye and his former boss President Museveni.
According to Sejusa, there is no amount of podium talks or talk shows and interviews that will unseat Museveni until it becomes clear that he can’t win or it is to his advantage to make a deal.
Sejusa who called Museveni a bully, said short cuts don’t work for people like him since he despises those he views as weak. He urged different political players to keep on with the struggle.
Using the example of defenestrated Zimbabwe leader Robert Mugabe, Sejusa said that strongmen such as Museveni must be forced into a deal for they will never genuinely share power
“Yes, strongmen ultimately lose power and our own Museveni is going to lose it and he knows it. But it can’t be thru those talks. Just concentrate on the struggle,” he said.
Sejusa further claims that Museveni can only come to the talking table only if opposition want a decent way to surrender which would be his best shot as well as if he (Museveni) feels the talks would buy him time or strengthen him.
He however says that the same talks would halt the momentum of those that seek to unseat Museveni.
“A strong Museveni can’t negotiate himself out of power. Why would he? Because he is a good Christian? Those who think otherwise can dream on. Better to build and defeat him outright,” he said.
The once notorious army office said Museveni’s base has always been the military which also is his primary constituency and not political and popular will stuff.
Tinyefuza was a police officer at the capacity of Assistant Superintendent of Police in 1981 before joining the bushwar the same year. After NRA taking over power in 1986, he was appointed state minister for defence. In 1993, he was appointed Presidential Adviser on Peace and Security, serving in that capacity until 1997. He was appointed Senior Presidential Adviser and Coordinator of Intelligence in 2005, a position he held until 2013.
In 2012 (February), Tinyefuza officially declared he was changing name to Sejusa (loosely translated as; I have no regrets). He said that Sejusa is a family name that is also reflected on some of his academic documents but that he had abandoned it “around secondary school level” but that he would re-claim as “everybody back home” refers to him as such. He added: “There is nothing in reverting to my original name. It is comrades like you who didn’t know it was my name but those elder comrades have always referred to me as such. And I suggest that from today you quote me as Gen. David Sejusa.”
In may 2013, Sejusa fell out with the establishment when he authored a letter claiming that Museveni was grooming his son Muhozi Kainerugaba as successor to the throne. He called upon Ugandans to build an alternative capacity and remove Museveni saying; “no one should imagine that Museveni will be removed through elections.”
Sejusa flee to exile in London following the fall out, he then launched a pressure group dubbed Freedom and Unity Front (FUF) aimed at overthrowing the NRM regime that he had served for decades.
In November the same year, Sejusa called upon Museveni to leave power saying; “He’s had enough time. He can leave and go, and we start a new process of national healing. And we are organising ourselves, we are establishing a constitutional rule which he destroyed.”
He however denied eyeing the presidential seat arguing that it would be a waste of time to beat Museveni within the structures of the current system.
Museveni would later challenge Sejusa to attempt taking power from him by force to which Sejusa responded; “It’s not so much that we want to do so. But if he continues to unleash terror on the population ours will be self defence.”
On December 15, 2014 at 2:00am, Sejusa returned quietly to the country but was arrested 15 days later on charges of treason. The once notorious general would later go quiet until lately.
When pushed to explain why his criticism against the regime has died prematurely, Sejusa said he is no give-upper.
“People like us never surrender! Thought you knew!! But anyway, not everyone doing serious work is in that “public realm”. Will take much×3 more to remove @Museveni than the podium and talk shows. You will see. And when its all passed, u will remember these words,” he said.
