In what appears a move to rally support from the international community, opposition strongman Dr Kizza Besigye has held talks with key officials in the British government.
Besigye said in a brief statement on Tuesday that he had a “meeting with Hon James Duddridge, MP at Westminster Houses of Parliament.”
Besigye said the lawmaker has “great interest in Africa and Uganda.”
The Ugandan opposition leader further said he “met and briefed Chairman, Hon Stephen Twigg, and Members of International Development Committee of U.K. parliament.”
It remains unclear what Besigye discussed with the British MPs and government officials but knowledgeable sources say it’s part of his Europe tour.
The opposition chief was recently in Netherlands where he rallied Ugandans in the Diaspora to back his plans to remove President Museveni from power.
Besigye further lambasted Museveni for presiding over a wasteful and inefficient government which he said has suffocated economic growth and human development.
Besigye poses for a photo with Hon James Duddridge MP at Westminster Houses of Parliament.
UK’s International Development Committee (IDC) monitors the policy, administration and spending of the Department for International Development (DFID) and its associated public bodies and takes an interest in the policies and procedures of the multilateral agencies and non-government organisations to which DFID contributes.
Uganda is major recipient of donor funds from British taxpayers.
The Committee is an investigative rather than a legislative Committee, setting its own programme and choosing subjects for inquiries.
Members of the International Development Committee also sit on the Committees on Arms Export Controls.
This consists of four Select Committees: Business, Innovation and Skills; Defence; Foreign Affairs; and International Development Committees meeting and working together.
Uganda Tour
Meanwhile, International Development Minister James Wharton flew to Uganda on Monday.
Wharton met with British businesses in Uganda and the Ugandan Minister for Trade Amelia Kyambadde to “discuss further trade and investment opportunities which will boost economic development and help the poorest stand on their own two feet, while also benefiting UK companies.”
The UK government said in a statement the support is helping Uganda and other countries “industrialise faster, trade more and create new and productive jobs for its growing young population.”
On a trip to a local family planning clinic in Kanyogoga, a settlement in Kampala, Wharton met people who are benefiting from a UK-aid supported programme that is increasing access to quality family planning services in Uganda, where half of the population of is under 15 and women have, on average, six children.
Family planning is an integral part of planning for Uganda’s future.