The opposition party, Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) Najjanakumbi faction has Monday 30th October 2023 held a press conference that addressed many issues in regards to the situation going on in the party and in the country at large as the faction party president Amuriat Patrick Oboi says while addressing media at the headquarters.
Mr. Oboi started by saying that. “This being my first press conference since the 6th October National Delegates Conference which elected National leaders, I thank the FDC that overwhelmingly voted me and entrusted us with a new mandate and I congratulate all those who were elected.
“I also wish to associate myself with those who didn’t make it and encourage them to put the elections in the past and continue working for the wellbeing of the FDC.
“I convey the party’s condolences to those who have recently lost their dear ones especially the families of our fallen leaders and pray that the Almighty comforts them.
“We have been closely monitoring the actions of the Electoral Commission in relation to the preparation for the long overdue elections for the LCI, LCII and Women Councils, and we feel compelled to address several alarming developments.
“Initially, the Electoral Commission cited lack of funds as the reason for not organizing these elections. However, they subsequently released what appeared to be a roadmap for the elections, only to later backtrack and claim it was an internal document released in error.
“To us it looks like the Electoral Commission may be engaged in games meant to take political parties in the opposition by surprise in order to favor the ruling NRM party.
“The purpose of these maneuvers appears to be aimed at creating confusion and disarray within opposition political parties and making it difficult for us to adequately prepare for the elections.
“There is a real risk that the Electoral Commission intends to hold these elections as a surprise when it suits the ruling party’s interests as they have done before.
“In addition, we also have intelligence information that the NRM wants to exploit the Parish Development Model (PDM) to distribute money to voters during these elections. As we speak now, the NRM is moving across the country discriminately distributing money under the guise of the Parish Development Model some of which will end up in the campaigns.
“We wish to issue a stern warning that attempts to use any government programs for the purposes of political expedience will lead to failure of those programs and the undermining of democracy. This will easily lead to Ugandans seeking other means to bringing change to their country.
“In light of these concerns, we call upon the Electoral Commission to immediately release a clear and unambiguous roadmap for these elections. We urge the Electoral Commission to desist from playing “Ping-Pong” and providing a level playing field for all political parties and candidates.
Hon. Amuriat noted that. “After a period of reflection and thorough internal discussions, the FDC National Executive Committee reached a consensus to recall the resolution that established the Peoples Government. With immediate effect, therefore the FDC will no longer participate in any activities associated with the Peoples Government. This may only resume when the conflict between the two is resolved.
“This severing of relations comes after a series of challenges that the FDC has faced managing two centers of power which have conflicted since 2018 leading to a total misunderstanding immediately before, during and after the 2021 general elections.
“Our party has experienced internal conflicts, accompanied by allegations and counter-accusations that have contributed to considerable turmoil within our ranks with resultant negative publicity in the media.
Regrettably, some members of the FDC have chosen to adopt a hostile stance against their own party in complete contravention of Article 12 of the party constitution.
‘They have for example continued to posture as the legitimate leaders of the party which matter was settled at the 6th October National Delegates Conference with the election of new leaders. They continue to issue illegal notices using FDC headed paper, use party symbols, slogans and colors and continue to brand themselves as such; and have also abused party documents during unauthorized meetings.
‘The Party is now prepared to take disciplinary action through a well constituted Committee on Discipline against these errant members and we strongly urge them to cease presenting themselves as FDC leaders.
We also call on our members to shun these individuals who chose to masquerade as ‘interim’ or factional leaders in order to cause a split in the party for their own selfish interests.
“We want to emphasize that there are no factions within the FDC, contrary to how it has been portrayed in the media. Claims of a “Katonga faction” or a “Najjanankumbi faction” are entirely unfounded. There is only one FDC, and it is crucial that the media immediately cease perpetuating these misrepresentations.
“However, in keeping with the Guiding Principle in the party constitution Chapter 8(e) that relates to peaceful resolution of conflict we continue to extend an olive branch to the FDC members “out there”. This however applies to only those holding corporate or life membership cards and those who are up to date with their membership.
“For those whose membership expires every year and have not renewed it by registering in their village registers they can only be supporters and sympathizers and not members and accordingly are at liberty to decide whether they want to regain membership of the party or not. For now, we implore all of them to stop masquerading as FDC leaders.
“We wish to clarify that during the Delegates Conference held on October 6th, 2023, a new National Executive Committee was democratically elected and sworn in. The conference also took a number of key decisions including extending the life of the Electoral Commission by six months and replacing the Hon. Ibrahim Ssemuju Nganda with Hon. Yusuf Nsibambi whom we congratulate, as the FDC whip in Parliament.
“The FDC remains committed to its mission and values, and we believe that these decisions are essential to restore unity and cohesion within our party. “He added.
It should be noted that, last month the FDC Katonga road faction also held a delegates conference that resolved that the Kampala City Lord Mayor Hon. Erias Lukwago to the helm of the party as interim party president with his Executive given the mandate to scrutineer the party general elections and harmonising the ongoing situation in the party amidst contestation from the opposing faction.
FDC FOCUS AREAS FOR YEAR 2023/2024
As you are aware the FDC has a new leadership and the new leadership has a big task ahead to give the party a face lift and to enable us to regain our glory in the political landscape of this country.
As the new team, we mean business from the very start of our 5 year tenure and we will soon be heading out to the field.
We urge all our members to prepare for an extensive plan aimed at strengthening the party’s infrastructure nationwide, which includes the redevelopment of the ‘Blue House’ which remains pending from the previous term.
These are our focus areas for the first year of our term of office
1. Elections
• For special interest groups (PWDs)
• In Districts that never participated in the just concluded elections as per the decision of the last Delegates conference
The Electoral commission will manage this process and all the relevant activities
2. FDC Organizational Capacity Strengthening
• Develop the Organizational Capacity Assessment Tool based on our parameters
• Conduct Organizational capacity Assessment (to assess the strength and weaknesses/gaps) -done at NEC level
• Orientation/ training of new leadership in their roles and responsibilities among others;
-Representation
-Advocacy
-Resource Mobilization
– Citizens mobilization
-Conflict resolution
3. Resource Mobilization
• Update our fundraising strategy
• Identify and profile funding opportunities, both our traditional partners and the new ones (private sector, investments, foundations, development partners, goodwill individuals)
• Make courtesy missions to our traditional partners
• Make courtesy calls to new partners
• Discuss, propose and update internal resource mobilization mechanism
• Training of the fundraising committees in Resource mobilization
4. Communication and Rebranding
• Update our communication strategy
• Identify the key strategic focus areas from our manifesto and building our message around those areas
• Focus on giving FDC a face lift through increased presence on media and our social media platforms Facebook, twitter etc.
• Participation and engagement in National/ regional Debates
• Capacity development/ Empowering national/ regional spokespersons / champions
5. Membership and Mobilization strategy
• Develop a draft road map for national /regional / district membership mobilization
• Update the membership registers and develop a digital database
• Strengthen the committees (Regional / district mobilization meetings.)
6. Roadmap to 2026 General elections
• Strategy to increase FDC elected leaders at all levels in 2026
• Mobilize more membership
• Consolidate our current membership
• Address any disagreements within the party and call for reconciliation
• Map the different events/calendar leading to the General elections and ensuring the party and our members comply
• Organize national, regional and District consultation meetings (both physical and virtual) to gather members views.
• Focus on remobilizing the former FDC stronghold areas to reclaim the lost victory
• Build and strengthen a generation of young and women leaders
• Encourage and support PWDs to engage in politics
The above activities will adequately prepare the party to resume its pursuit of freedom of our motherland at the start of our second year in office.
