Col (Rtd) Kizza Besigye (right) talks to Mr Wasswa Birigwa, the former FDC national chairman, during their national delegates conference on August 19, 2024. PHOTO/ISAAC KASAMANI
The Katonga bloc of Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party is set for total split from their Najjanankumbi opposite, after they sought to found a new political party yesterday.
But there is a headache as huge swathes of their strongholds in the Rwenzori, Teso and Acholi are unsure about the move to find a new home away from their Najjanankumbi political brethren.
Mr Erias Lukwago, the interim party president, yesterday said the rest of the regions are unanimous and have rallied behind the idea of establishing a new political party, the exception being party card holders from the Rwenzori, Teso and Acholi.
FDC, formerly Uganda’s largest Opposition party in Parliament with 37 MPs, until 2021, today is a shadow of itself with only 30 MPs.
Should the formation of the new political party materialise, the Katonga-FDC would have broken the chord that once held them together with the mainstream Najjanankumbi led by Mr Patrick Oboi Amuriat as president.
The Katonga offshoot believes the new political party is the way forward to bring back to the fold disgruntled party members who have since left Najjanankumbi following the bitter fallout with the leadership of party president Oboi Amuriat and secretary general Nathan Nandala Mafabi.
The party splinter came last year amid allegations by some party members that Mr Amuriat and Mr Nandala had secured for the party “dirty money” during the 2021 General Election, which claims the Najjanankumbi lot have dismissed.
The Katonga cluster has since March been traversing the country in consultative meetings okayed by their national council meeting of February 21, 2024.
Same old story
Should all go as planned, the new formation by the Katonga group would become the third party to be founded by either former founders, leaders or promoters of FDC.
The first to opt out was Ms Beti Olive Kamya, the current Inspector General of Government, who was a special envoy of then FDC party leader Dr Besigye. She broke ranks in 2010 to found the Uganda Federal Alliance party.
Two years later, Maj Gen Mugisha Muntu, a former army commander, was elected FDC President, serving until 2017 when Mr Oboi Amuriat defeated him for the top party seat.
Maj Gen Muntu exit was prompted by persistent accusations of being a mole, which allegations he denied. But the unending bickering prompted him and other party stalwarts to decamp in 2018 to eventually form the Alliance for National Transformation (ANT) party.
Najjanankumbi reacts
Mr Amuriat yesterday said they are scheduled to release a comprehensive statement once the new party is announced, saying he does not want to preempt it.
“It is not yet clear, so we do not know if it has been cleared by those in authority or not. We first need to see the new party written and signed. We are going to issue a statement on Wednesday about our take on it. Away from this, it does not worry us,” Mr. Amuriat told Daily Monitor in an interview yesterday.
Mr Jack Sabiiti, the party’s national chairman, said FDC will remain FDC as it has its own constitution and ideologies.
“Once a person is born, he remains the same person despite changing names several times. FDC is FDC. It has its ideologies and constitution. The party has structures that stipulate how it should be governed. Those who want to change its ideologies won’t succeed. FDC will remain the same with or without them,” Mr Sabiiti said.
He said FDC has been changing leadership over time, and as the founding fathers, they are ready to vacate and leave the party to the younger generation, provided they are committed to upholding the party’s legacy.
“We believe in FDC and its ideologies, and the party will remain. Whereas they have formed their party, there are many different voices within. Those who have betrayed the party should repent,” Mr Sabiit added.
Mr Robert Centenary, the FDC vice chairperson, said many people have left the party, including Ms Kamya and Gen Muntu.
“Forming a new party is someone’s right. We have seen many parties formed out of FDC. Look at Kamya, who formed the Federal Alliance. Where is it? Muntu also formed his own party, but FDC continued. So even these ones can go. We wish them the best,” Mr Centenary said.
He said he has received information that the Katonga faction plans to dissolve the original FDC, which he said cannot be achieved without following the law.
“Whatever step they are taking, they need to move consciously. They have leaders who hold themselves as learned, but it seems they are not advising them well. They should be advised that they do not have the power to dissolve FDC because the delegates they invited are illiterate,” Mr Centenary said.
Observers weigh in
Prof Mwambutsya Ndebesa, a senior lecturer at Makerere University College of Humanities and Social Sciences, says the new political party might not be different from FDC unless it has new personalities and new issues to sell to the nation.
Prof Ndebesa says chances are high that the principles that guided them in FDC and the mobilisation schemes would still be only a chip from the old bloc.
“They should have done the groundwork to come up with new personalities or at least a mixture of personalities so that they have a mixture of the old and new ideas. Otherwise, if they keep the old gods and all their practices, then it will be FDC divided with one carrying the official name and the other bearing a new name,” Prof Ndebesa says. He further opines that if the new party brings in electrifying personalities and gets a national profile, then old FDC is likely to fizzle out or be pushed to thrive in one region of the country, and will be weakened.
Capt Edward Francis Babu, a political analyst, says by forming a new political party, the Katonga faction is weakening the Opposition and giving a chance to whoever they are fighting to have an upper hand.
“When you begin to separate, you weaken yourself. When you are together, you strengthen yourself. So what they are doing is undercutting themselves,” Capt Babu says.
