‘Hon. Nandala told me he was giving me the money because he was fearing the revenue authority’
The founding president of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), Dr Kizza Besigye Kifeefe, has dismissed a report from the party Committee of Elders, asserting that it made no sincere effort to ascertain the origin of the alleged illicit funds worth Shs300m.
During a press conference held on Monday, 07 August 2023 at his office along Katonga Road in Kampala, Dr Besigye said that the investigations ignored the key question that he raised with the party concerning the “dirty” money and instead sought to reconcile him with Nandala.
“The Elders Committee Report did not attempt at all to find the facts. What I emphasized to them is not in the records of what I told them. Somewhere in the report it says that Hon. Nandala was the one who lent the money to the party. They didn’t even ask him how much he lent. It was too sensitive to be asked,” he said.
He explained that he has no personal grudges against Nandala, which needed reconciliation of the committee. He also accused the FDC Secretary General of lying about the source of the ‘dirty’ money.
“Hon Nathan Nandala Mafabi told a lie when he said that he had given me Shs300 million for polling agents. He told me the money was his and he wanted to hide it from URA since he had debts with them, and that they [URA] would confiscate it…,” he said.
Dr Besigye narrated how the money got to him.
“My first concern came with the arrival of the money. The money arrived at my home at 10 pm. Hon. Nandala rang me saying that ‘the other thing we talked about is about to arrive.’ I asked him where the money was passing because there was a curfew at the time and people were not allowed to move. He told me not to worry and before long his driver alone handed me a big box of money,” he revealed.
According to Besigye, Nandala told him he was giving him the money because he was fearing the revenue authority.
“They were demanding money from his companies and if he places it on his accounts the authority would pounce on it and it would be difficult to recover it,” he said.
“I told Hon. Nandala that my home was not secure. My home is always being surrounded and sometimes searched. I told him I could not keep the money with myself, but I would put it somewhere which we discussed would be safe,” he added.
Dr Besigye also refuted claims that money was extended to him to keep for party agents.
“I am in Rukungiri and I receive a call from Hon. Nandala that he wants the money to use for agents. That was the first time I heard of the story of the agents,” he said.
“Since I was away I told him that I could put it at my petrol station in Nsambya. When later followed up on the issue my manager in Nsambya told me that indeed the money had been taken and she had signed off on it. Neither the FDC people nor the management at Nsambya has informed me of any issues with the delivery of the money,” he added.
After failing to make progress with UGX 300 million and after consulting with his colleagues on the problematic money, Besigye said they had taken the decision to return it. However, there was the hullabaloo of elections going on.
He said he later interacted with the FDC National Committee on the source of the money.
“I narrated to the Committee incidences from the time Hon. Nandala entrusted me with his UGX 300 million up to the time I reported to the National Council,” he said.
“I also pointed out to them that they would help the party primarily by establishing the facts about the money. And that the facts would be found in the accounts and records of the party. I pointed out to the National Council that formed the Committee and told them that the two things they needed to look at were where the money came from and the management of the party,” he said.
The quarrels over the said money went public last month when the party was in the process of conducting internal elections. Some party members demanded that elections be halted until the internal conflicts are resolved and the party Electoral Commission better organized to handle the process. However, Amuriat, Nandala, and their allies insisted on the elections, which they say commenced on July 21st, 2023.
Besigye dismissed the elections, saying that even in places where it was claimed they had happened, media reports indicated that they hadn’t. He wishes that the party’s National Council meets again, and when it does, it puts in place a transitional leadership to steer the party to a credible election.
The transitional government, he says should start with appointing experts to conduct a forensic audit of the party resources and also general management of the party.
Dr Besigye also said that the party is currently under siege and that its members should rescue it, adding that there are plans by dissatisfied members of the party to mobilize others to rescue the party. He says that the People’s Government too shall be fighting to rescue FDC but at a large scale, the country.
