Uganda's Besigye flies home
Ugandan opposition leader Dr Kizza Besigye at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport on May 11,2011 after he was blocked from boarding a Kenya Airways flight to Entebbe. He flew home May 12, 2011. FILE
Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye flew home Thursday, a day after being barred from making the journey.
His return coincides with the swearing in ceremony of President Yoweri Museveni for a fourth term.
Among the dignitaries expected to attend the ceremony include Kenya's President Kibaki, Tanzania President Jakaya Kikwete, former president Moi and other regional leaders.
The inauguration is being held at the Kololo Ceremonial Ground in Kampala.
President Kibaki is also expected to attend a tripartite meeting of the leaders of Kenya, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and Uganda.
He will also meet with the Prime Minister of Ethiopia Meles Zenawi.
Dr Besigye arrived at Entebbe Airport amidst tight security and has left for Kampala.
On Wednesday, the opposition leader missed a second flight home in unexplained circumstances.
He was scheduled to leave on the 5.50pm flight, almost nine hours after he was first barred from boarding a Kenya Airways flight to Entebbe.
Dr Besigye was denied access to the flight after receiving the boarding pass allegedly on orders of Ugandan authorities.
“Dr Besigye could not board the aircraft as Kenya Airways had to first ascertain this information without inconveniencing the other passengers destined for Entebbe,” the airline’s managing director, Mr Titus Naikuni, said in a statement.
He also apologised to the Ugandan leader for the inconvenience.
The leader of Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) was returning home after almost two weeks in Kenya.
He was discharged from the Nairobi Hospital on Friday where he was treated for injuries sustained in four consecutive violent arrests by the police for orchestrating the walk-to-work protests over rising cost of living. (READ: Uganda's Besigye leaves hospital)
Scores of people have been killed since the peaceful protests started on April 11.
Uganda authorities had on Tuesday indicated that they would allow Dr Besigye to return on condition he did not leave the airport in a convoy of more than three vehicles escorted by police.
