While the government staged pomp-filled Heroes Day celebrations in Lyantonde, the People’s Front for Freedom (PFF) held a rival event in Kampala, turning the spotlight on jailed opposition figure Col (Rtd) Dr Kizza Besigye and accusing the state of betraying its own revolution.
The PFF, Uganda’s newest registered political party, honoured Besigye in absentia at its headquarters, where his portrait stood in place of his physical presence.
Besigye is currently on remand at Luzira Maximum Security Prison, facing charges of plotting to overthrow the government.
“Dr Besigye sacrificed his job as a young doctor at Aga Khan Hospital in Nairobi and went to the bush to liberate this country. The only reward he can get now is being jailed?” said PFF interim spokesperson Ibrahim Ssemujju.
“We cannot celebrate Heroes Day while the real heroes are behind bars.”
Besigye and co-accused Haji Obedi Lutale were arrested in late May. PFF leaders used the Heroes Day occasion to demand their release, reminding the public that Besigye once fought alongside President Museveni during the National Resistance Army (NRA) bush war.
“This country cannot pretend to honour heroes while sidelining and imprisoning the very people who contributed to its liberation,” said party executive member Roland Mugume Kaginda.
The parallel event doubled as a recruitment drive for the party, which received official registration on 5-June-2025.
According to PFF Electoral Commission chairperson Michael Kabaziguruka, the new party has attracted a wave of interest.
“Just four days after getting our certificate, hundreds of Ugandans have been flocking to our offices to join,” said Kabaziguruka.
“This being a party committed to delivering change, we have welcomed them and are now preparing to orient them on our values and ideology.”
New recruits at the ceremony expressed admiration for the PFF’s leadership, particularly Besigye, and said they were drawn to the party’s message of justice, reform, and national renewal.
As the protest anthem We Shall Overcome One Day rang out across the compound, PFF leaders vowed to keep resisting what they called the “betrayal of Uganda’s true heroes.”
