Somaliland: “In this Unrecognized Country Am not Protected by the Uganda Army”- Dr Kizza Besigye

Somalilandsun: The Uganda Peoples Defence Forces-UPDF are based in Somalia and never in Somaliland .
This was stated by Uganda’s four-time presidential candidate Dr. Kizza Besigye as he refuted claims that the UPDF was providing him with Security in Somaliland.
The Ugandan politician is part of the Election monitoring team that observed the Somaliland parliamentary and local Councils elections of Monday May 31, 2021.
Dr Besigye is part of the 30 strong Brenthurst Foundation organized all Africans high powered #SomalilandElections2021 Monitoring mission
According to the Former Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party president, “UPDF has never set foot in Somaliland! This is one of the most peaceful and democratic areas in the Horn of Africa,”

Besigye was responding to the claim by some people on social media that the force is giving him protection in Somaliland, something he said it’s not true.

Somaliland, which has operated as an independent republic since declaration of independence from war torn Somalia in 1991, has held regular and fairly democratic elections.
But the Somaliland government has never been formally recognised as a state despite a record of peace, stability and democracy. It also maintains relations with other governments.
Officially, Somaliland is a self-declared sovereign state in the Horn of Africa. Internationally, it is still considered to be part of Somalia.

Besigye’s personal assistant, Ronald Muhinda, noted that the monitoring mission was organised by the Brenthurst Foundation which is led by former former deputy chair of African Union Commission, Erastus Mwencha and former Sierra Leone President Ernest Koroma.
“Election observers, if they perform their role well, provide valuable oversight role that builds public confidence and trust in election exercise,” Muhinda said.
He stated that they also help improve the quality of elections especially in fragile democracies.