Andrew Mwenda on why presidential pardon for Besigye us unlikely

Journalist Andrew Mwenda has cast doubt on the prospect of a presidential pardon for Dr Kizza Besigye, saying the opposition politician would be unlikely to admit guilt and seek forgiveness.

Mwenda said while he has sympathy for Besigye and would prefer a political resolution that allows him to return home, the process of a presidential pardon is unlikely to favour Besigye, due to his defiant character.

“In Uganda a pardon is given after conviction and it is only given after a committee on the prerogative of mercy recommends it to the president,” Mwenda said.

“For the committee to listen to you, you must admit to the guilt, you must show remorse for what you did and ask for forgiveness. I do not think Besigye can do that. He is too stubborn to do that.”

Article 121 of the Constitution provides for the President to pardon a convicted person on the advice of the Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy. 

Mwenda nevertheless backed efforts to find another route to Besigye’s freedom.

“I wish we could find a way to politically release him. I have a lot of sympathy for him. If it was left to me, I would end the prosecution, forgive him and let him go home.”

His remarks come against the background of reported efforts involving Gen Salim Saleh to secure Besigye’s release.

The initiative according to reports involves figures from the National Resistance Movement, the People’s Front for Freedom (PFF), the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), religious leaders and senior citizens.

A committee of eminent persons would support Saleh, while an opposition team would engage his group. 

FDC deputy spokesperson Walid Mulindwa said leaders of the Inter-Party Organisation for Dialogue had also discussed Besigye’s release. Some PFF figures reportedly opposed negotiations, preferring a court resolution.

However, Besigye’s wife, Winnie Byanyima, subsequently said her husband had entered neither negotiations nor a plea bargain.

“KB maintains his innocence. He has entered into no negotiations and no plea bargain,” she wrote on X.

Byanyima said the family’s priority was his health. She disclosed that the defence had submitted a fifth bail application and urged Justice Emmanuel Baguma to schedule a hearing.

She also encouraged Saleh to pursue any national dialogue openly and inclusively, while warning against using Besigye’s freedom and health as bargaining chips.