The opposition Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) has announced that the National Delegates Conference, which was due to be held in November, will now held in October.
The chairperson of the FDC Electoral Commission, Boniface Bamwenda Tuterebuka, in a circular, said the Delegates Conference will take place on October 6 at the UMA showgrounds Lugogo.
“This is to announce that the ongoing general election of the party being conducted at all levels shall culminate in a meeting of the delegates whose business will be to elect members of the National Executive Committee as provided for in the constitution,” he said.
He explained that owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, elections for the party organs could not take place, and the National Council in its 14th sitting held on October 8, 2020, extended the term of office bearers for a period of three years which expires on October 8, 2023.
At the delegates conference, the party will elect new national leaders, including the party president and secretary general.
Article 23 of the FDC constitution provides for the National Delegates Conference, which is the supreme policy-making organ of the party. Its major function is to elect the National Executive Committee, determine the program and policies of the party, and receive reports from NEC, among others.
A total of 1,400 delegates are slated to participate in the election.
The meeting comes at a time when the party is grappling with internal dissent brought by allegations that some party leaders received money from the ruling government to sell the party.
Article 23 (5) stipulates that “the National delegates shall meet once every three years on such a date and at such a place as the chairman may determine, provided that a special delegates conference may be convened at any time to consider urgent matters.”
The party last held elections in November 2017 when Patrick Amuriat was elected party president, defeating Gen Mugisha Muntu.
