Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The People’s Progressive Party-PPP has urged the Forum for Democratic Change-FDC to find a neutral individual or group to facilitate a reconciliation process within the party. In an August 31, 2023 letter, the Acting PPP Chairperson, Sadam Gayira, asks the FDC Party President Patrick Oboi Amuriat, to use prominent religious and cultural leaders without any political ambitions to foster unity in the FDC.
Addressing journalists at the PPP headquarters in Bukoto Wednesday, Gayira said that as a party, they believe that unity, reconciliation, and cooperation among political parties are crucial elements for the advancement of the country.
For more than two months now, the FDC has been in the news with top party officials treading accusations of dishonesty, poor accountability, and disloyalty to the party. The origin of the fights was the allegation made by the party’s founding president Dr. Kiiza Besigye that the party Secretary General Nathan Nandala Mafabi had brought into the party “suspicious” money in 2020 as the country headed for the 2021 General Elections.
The allegations which were made public in July by the party spokesperson, Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda have since created undeniable divisions within the party, with some members siding with Besigye and others with Nandala. Gayira says that whether the allegations are right or not, the FDC’s leadership should find a solution that shall keep their party intact. He says that the ruling National Resistance Movement-NRM government thrives through internal party bickering.
Gayira says that when any opposition political party has in-fights that give birth to factions, it becomes hard for other opposition players to unite and form coalitions. He made reference to the 2016 efforts to form The Democratic Alliance, which came at a time when the Democratic Party-DP was divided between the mainstream DP and the breakaway Suubi and TJ pressure groups.
The fights within the FDC have affected internal party activities including elections and the delegates conference. The party organized elections last month but was largely shunned by members who demanded that the Party Secretary General explain the source, amount, and purpose of the “suspicious” money before the elections are conducted.
Nandala, the party president, and their adherents carried on with the elections, which Besigye and his supporters dismissed. The other activity that has been affected is the extraordinary Delegates Conference sanctioned by the party’s National Chairman, Waswa Birigwa for September 19, 2023. The party Secretary General has denied Birigwa funds to facilitate the meeting, saying that it is not a party meeting because it was sanctioned without the knowledge of the different party organs.
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