Stephen Mudiari | NATION Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye arrives at Nairobi Hospital on a stretcher on April 29, 2011 night after he was injured in demonstrations in Kampala the previous day.
By AGGREY MUTAMBO amutambo@ke.nationmedia.com And MIKE MWANIKI mmwaniki@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Saturday, April 30 2011 at 22:00
Posted Saturday, April 30 2011 at 22:00
In Summary
- Tough-talking Ugandan President refuses to back down on use of force against demonstrators in Kampala as opposition leader undergoes eye surgery at Nairobi Hospital.
- There were fears that the visit by both leaders would trigger a diplomatic incident
Kenya was sucked into the escalating crisis over rising food prices in Uganda after the two main players arrived in Nairobi within hours of each other.
There were fears that the visit to the country by both President Yoweri Museveni and opposition leader Kizza Besigye would trigger a diplomatic incident after young Kenyans unhappy with the Uganda leader’s treatment of protesters in Kampala threatened to mobilise anti-Museveni protests.
A ring of security was thrown around the Intercontinental Hotel where the Ugandan leader addressed business leaders.
As Mr Museveni arrived in the country to a red carpet reception at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Dr Besigye was being treated at the Nairobi Hospital, having arrived late on Friday night to the high pitch of ambulance sirens. He was quickly whisked from the airport to the hospital.
The visit by the two leaders, one for business and the other for treatment would have acquired more political overtones had Kenya’s Prime Minister Raila Odinga visited him at the Nairobi Hospital’s exclusive North Wing as had been earlier arranged.
The planned hospital visit by Mr Odinga was called off at the eleventh hour after doctors advised that Dr Besigye was not in a position to receive visitors.
Journalists had been camping at the hospital for the better part of the day when the PM’s communication aide said the visit had been cancelled.
“We have been informed that it will not be possible to see him now. The hospital says the patient cannot see anyone right now,” said the Prime Minister’s spokesperson Dennis Onyango.
Kenya is watching the growing crisis in neighbouring Uganda with keen interest.
Uganda overtook Britain as Kenya’s biggest trading partner in 2006 and the country is host to tens of thousands of Kenyan students and business people.
Mr Museveni, one of the more assertive East African leaders, has been accused in the past of supporting President Kibaki in his electoral contest against Mr Odinga. His visit to the country largely went off without the diplomatic incident feared in government circles.
Mr Museveni was driven to State House for a conversation with President Kibaki and a communiqué from the two leaders did not mention the fate of Dr Besigye who was receiving treatment a five-minute drive away from State House.
At the Hotel Intercontinental function where Mr Museveni addressed the Social Economic Transformation and East African Political Federation Forum, a man identified as Benji Ndolo was arrested for shouting down the Ugandan president.
Mr Museveni dodged questions about the treatment of the protesters in Uganda, which has triggered criticism from within and outside Uganda.
Last evening, a family source said Dr Besigye was in critical condition.
“Dr Besigye will undergo surgery to clean his eyes from inside,” the source said. “The pepper sprayed into his eyes severely affected him and doctors have said his bloodstream was also affected.”
“He has received intravenous medication to try to get rid of pepper from his blood which may also have affected oxygen levels in his blood system.”
The opposition leader can only walk with assistance and his arm is still in a cast following the gunshot injuries he sustained two weeks ago.
It also emerged yesterday that Nairobi doctors found out that Dr Besigye had suffered rib cage damage while he was hauled unconscious into the back of a police pick-up. The Nairobi Hospital did not release an official statement on his condition.
Dr Besigye’s search for treatment came after Ugandan riot police clobbered him in his car before one of them sprayed his eyes, chest and back with pepper spray.
Dr Besigye has been leading a “walk-to-work” campaign in protest against the rising fuel and food prices in Uganda which has been dubbed the “Vegetable Revolution” after the price of many essential items shot up nearly three times in less than a month.
In the three weeks he has led the campaign, the police have arrested him four times, often deploying brutal tactics. Earlier, he had been barred from travelling at Entebbe International airport before security officials rescinded their decision on “receiving a call from above.”
The US state department has condemned the “apparent harassment” of the opposition and other Western diplomats have raised concern over the handling of the protests that have left five people dead, hundreds injured and 700 behind bars.
Hospital sources who declined to be named due to the sensitive nature of their task and because the administration had not authorised communication to the press told the Sunday Nation that Dr Besigye was being treated by a team of eye, lung and heart specialists.
Journalists had a hard time catching a glimpse of him as his security detail tried to rough them up. He is said to be in the company of his sister Dr Olive Kobusingye.
One of his hands was still bandaged. His thumbs were connected to a machine that monitors oxygen levels in the blood as nurses kept watch over him. He wore dark glasses to protect his eyes from sensitive light but it was not clear to what extent his eyes had been affected.
At the hospital, there was a minor scuffle after the institution’s security personnel attempted to stop journalists from taking pictures of Dr Besigye as he was moved from the ambulance. But the security personnel later relented and allowed pictures of the injured leader to be taken.
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