The Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) has vowed not to attend the third IPOD summit which is scheduled to take place on 05/03/2021, at Kololo independence grounds Kampala.
In this summit, Presidents and secretaries General of the Democratic party (DP), Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), Justice Forum (JEEMA), National Resistance Movement (NRM) and Uganda Peoples’ Congress (UPC) are expected to attend the summit that will be chaired by H.E. Gen.Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, the chairman of the IPOD summit as its was agreed upon in the memorandum of understanding (MOU) that was signed by these political parties.
Its remembered that, the IPOD Council of Secretaries General in its meeting held on 23/02/2021, resolved to organize this summit with a view to dealing with the current political challenges that the country is face with forestance in the just concluded general elections witnessed high levels unprecedented violence, lawlessness, riots, protests, hate speech along tribal and sectarian lines, misinformation and disinformation among many other electoral vices that continue to undermine electoral democracy and threaten national security and social cohesion.
Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda, FDC’s party spokesperson on 01st Monday this week during the party’s weekly press conference said that, FDC is not interested in this summit due to that fact that they are concerned with total breakdown of the rule of law in the country.
” The military aided by the president of Uganda General Yoweri Museveni has now fully taken over full control of all institutions of the state, he added.
Ssemujju also expressed his grievances saying, there are more than 1000 people who have been arrested illegally by the military, illegally tried and remanded by the military to various prisons including Kigo and Kitalya. He adds that hundreds of young men and women are still detained at Mbuya by Chieftaincy of Military intelligence (CMI), special forces command, and joint Ant Terrorism.
“The young men are undergoing torture day and nights, some have been tortured to death and others maimed beyond recognition,” he said.
He says that, this is one of the reasons why FDC didn’t interested in this summit thus calling upon immediate and unconditional release of all Ugandans held by the army, and the army should also disclose names of those who have died in their hands.
