EC clears Gen Muntu’s party for registration

Kampala. The Electoral Commission is set to register Alliance for National Transformation (ANT) party formed by Maj Gen Mugisha Muntu, who quit Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) in September last year.
Gen Muntu, the former FDC president, quit the largest Opposition party, alleging irreconcilable strategic disagreements on how to achieve regime change in Uganda.
On September 27, he unveiled the New Formation, a platform to prepare for the new party.
The EC spokesperson, Mr Jotham Taremwa, told Daily Monitor that Gen Muntu’s party had been cleared for registration after fulfilling key issues.
Without giving details, which he said would be announced with the registration, Mr Taremwa said EC cleared the party’s name, the colours and symbols with only the verification of signatures of the people endorsing the registration yet to be concluded.
“We have agreed on the name which you already know as Alliance for National Transformation. We have agreed on the party colour and symbol but I am not the one to disclose those to you but the leaders of the party,” Mr Taremwa said.
Gen Muntu and his colleagues had announced that the new party would be launched by December 25 but it was postponed after EC did not approve the registration in the stipulated time.
The EC then promised to complete the process by December 31, but Mr Taremwa yesterday said the forms bearing signatures of 50 people endorsing the party from all districts had been sent back to district registrars for verification.

Process
“As the commission, we returned from the Christmas break on January 7 (Monday) and we have started receiving reports (from district registrars) and we will inform you when the registration is done,” Mr Taremwa said.
By law, the EC requires a person or a group intending to register a political party to get 50 signatures of eligible voters from at least three thirds of all the districts in the country.
A source close to the architects of Gen Muntu’s party said to “avoid last minute hitches” they collected signatures from all the districts in the country.
Another source in the Gen Muntu camp told Daily Monitor that the party colour agreed upon with the Electoral Commission is purple with a symbol of a watch.
“Gen Muntu even hinted on the colour when he sent out Christmas cards and whoever received one should have seen the purple colour on it,” the source said.
Former Serere District Woman MP Alice Alaso, who is the convener of the New Formation meetings yesterday, said they were hoping to launch the party in the next two months if the EC completes the registration.
Ms Alaso, however, declined to confirm the party colours and symbols.
“I don’t want to disclose those details because they will be unveiled at the launch but what I can tell you is that purple is not the only colour because parties have more than one colour,’ she said.
Asked about their relations with the EC during the registration, Ms Alaso said the “process is very much on track.”
Last year, Ms Alaso said they planned to launch the party with at least 20,000 members with the recruitment ongoing online.
They made an online call for membership and people who wished to make a contribution towards creation of the new party.