FDC Conflict: NEC Members Vow To Dissolve Party Election Body As Tension Continues
A section of the Forum for Democratic Change Party leaders has called for the disbandment of the party’s Electoral Commission before internal elections are held.
The disgruntled leaders, who are members of the National Executive Committee led by Ssemujju Nganda, the party spokesperson revealed that Toterebuka Bamwenda-led Electoral Commission has organized elections contrary to the June 16th resolutions of the National Executive Committee that suspended the polling exercise over internal conflicts within the party.
”Toterebuka Bamwend’s electoral Commission must be disbanded, and a new credible and impartial electoral commission should be instituted. The new electoral commission should propose a new election roadmap and present it to the national executive committee for approval,” Ssemujju said During a press briefing at Fairway Hotel In Kampala.
The wrangles were triggered by alleged suspicious campaign money, which a section of FDC leaders claim, could have originated from the State House. The allegations have, however, been dismissed as baseless and bogus by a committee of party elders, whose findings were released last week during a National Committee meeting.
last month Ssemujju Nganda, who is also a member of parliament for Kira Municipality claimed that Nathan Nandala Mafabi, the secretary-general is planning to hand over the party to President Museveni.
This was revealed during a consultative meeting in Kampala, Ssemujju raised concerns that Mafabi and others were conspiring to manipulate the upcoming election in order to seize control of the FDC and hand it over to National Resistance Movement chairman President Yoweri Museveni.
Ssemujju also expressed his belief that President Museveni is accelerating his agenda to eradicate all political parties, including the FDC. He vowed that they will not allow this to happen.
The tension in the party has split the party into two factions: one led by current president Patrick Oboi Amuriat, and a second allegedly loyal to founder president Dr Kizza Besigye Kifefe, which Ssemujju follows.
The source of the fracture within the FDC is reportedly the disagreement between the Amuriat-Mafabi faction and the pro-Besigye group over party leadership and direction.
Mafabi has been accused of failing to implement key party decisions, while Ssemujju further accused him of corruption.
“The Nandala group is rushing to hold an election so that he gets all the authority, trust me after the election, Nandala will take FDC to Museveni like the way it happened to the Democratic Party (DP) and Uganda People’s Congress (UPC),” Ssemujju Nganda revealed.
Nganda argued that if Mafabi’s alleged machinations succeeded, they would enable Museveni to fulfil the threat he first made in 2016 of finishing all political parties and making FDC irrelevant in the bargain.
