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I’m Not Worried Of Police: FDC Chairman Birigwa Confirms Sept 19th Delegates Conference Despite Police Concerns

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Besigye Nandala

The national chairman for the Forum for Democratic Change party, Wasswa Birigwa, says as far as he’s concerned, the September 19th delegates conference will take place.

Birigwa says he is yet to get formal communication from police that announced yesterday that the meeting at Busabala, in Wakiso District, will not be allowed until the warring camps in the party harmonise their position.

Birigwa’s delegates conference is being contested by FDC party president Patrick Amuriat and the secretary general Nandala Mafabi.

However, Birigwa says Amuriat and Mafabi should not fear to face the party delegates because they are the owners of the party, according to the party constitution.

When district leaders from 113 districts, including chairpersons and secretaries, gave their party’s chairman, Wasswa Birigwa, a 48-hour ultimatum, demanding the cancellation of an extraordinary meeting scheduled for September 19, 2023, the turmoil within the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), once Uganda’s most formidable opposition party, reached a boiling point.

They threatened to impeach Birigwa if he didn’t cooperate.

The recently elected district leaders made their opinion known in a petition that Joseph Senzoga, the Masaka municipal party chairperson, read. The party’s chairman was urged in the petition to “stop his illegal action (meeting) by issuing a notice to cancel the so-called extraordinary within 48 hours.”

The leaders insisted that they would petition the party president to use his authority under Article 28(3)(b)(iii) of the party constitution, which allows the president to recommend disciplinary action against any member who neglects their duties and skips party business and meetings without a valid excuse, if Birigwa did not cancel the meeting within the allotted time.

The president may also appoint a temporary substitute in response to such a recommendation, pending confirmation by the appropriate authority.

The district leaders didn’t stop there; they also demanded that Salaamu Musumba, the national vice-chairperson for Eastern Uganda, and Rolland Mugume Kaginda, the vice-chairperson for Western Uganda, face disciplinary measures.

Salaamu Musumba discusses the FDC’s breakup. (Francis Isaano/Flickr)
Their claimed offenses included failing to attend meetings with the party’s working committee and failing to support the implementation of National Council resolutions on party structural elections and the special elder’s committee report.

The district leaders also agreed with the Party Electoral Commission’s choice to call a gathering of delegates to elect members of the National Executive Committee (NEC). Opposition politicians had harshly criticized this action, calling it illegal.

“We are aware that the party’s National Leadership term finishes on October 7, 2023. While the 16th National Council held on July 28, 2023, directed the party EC to conduct elections from the village to the national level, which Birigwa and his group call a sham, Senzoga revealed that the party chairman instead of supporting the completion of the election process decided to call a parallel illegal extraordinary meeting.

Senzoga also relayed the support of the district leaders for the Party Electoral Commission’s choice to hold a meeting on October 6, 2023, to complete the election process by electing the members of the party National Executive Committee.

Other party members were observed selecting nomination forms for the 38 NEC posts as these events took place. Geoffrey Ekanya, the party’s treasurer general, was notable among them. He was running for the same position, along with Robert Centenary and John Kikonyogo, who were both contending for the job of secretary of publicity, also known as the party spokesperson and currently held by Ssemujju Nganda.

The nomination process has been extended until September 15th, which is interesting because no leaders from the opposition group were seen gathering forms at the party headquarters.

As time passes until crucial elections in October 2023, the turmoil within the FDC worsens and questions about its future direction are raised. An already volatile political environment is made more tense by the ultimatum given to Wasswa Birigwa.

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