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Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | A faction of the Forum for Democratic Change-FDC party led by Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago has issued its electoral roadmap that will culminate in the election of new party leaders.
Speaking at their offices on Katonga Road in Kampala this morning, Lukwago said the party National Executive Committee meeting that sat last week agreed on the roadmap that will not only see the party getting new leaders but also carry out country-wide tours.
Lukwago said that they intend to write to the police to notify them about their planned activities and added that they don’t expect the police to disrupt these meetings in whatever way because FDC is a registered political party which has a right to operate without restrictions.
Lukwago reiterated that the delegates’ conference that is being organized by the Najjanankumbi faction led by the party president Patrick Amuriat Oboi and Secretary General Nathan Nandala Mafabi is illegal because it wasn’t sanctioned by the party Chairman Wasswa Birigwa.
He said he expects the court this week to issue an injunction stopping it because it’s at variance with the FDC constitution.
Lukwago also said that they are going to meet with FDC eminent persons to see how to rejuvenate the party adding that many national leaders are distressed with what is going on in FDC.
Meanwhile, Michael Kabaziguruka, the head of the Electoral Commission of the FDC said all plans have been laid out that will culminate in the holding of a Delegates’ Conference in March next year.
According to the roadmap, elections will kick off on December 9 with the election of leaders from the village to the district. There will then be a national Delegates’ Conference on March 15, 2024, that will elect national leaders of the party.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Electoral Commission at the Najjanankumbi-based faction of FDC Boniface Toterebuka Bamwenda has also announced that the FDC National Executive Commitee elections will take place on October 6, at Patidar Samaj Sports Ground Lugogo with an expected number of 1,271 voters.
He said the voters, election observers and other persons shall be accredited at the party headquarters on Thursday 5 October from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Toterebuka listed the categories of voters invited as District Chairpersons, General Secretaries, Secretaries for Publicity and Mobilization, Women league Chairpersons and Youth Secretaries while at the constituency level Chairpersons and General Secretaries of whom one must be a female were invited.
“As the party electoral commission, we are prepared for this election with maximum respect for the FDC electoral guidelines and the party constitutions,” said Toterebuka. He added that elections shall take place in all vacant positions and that successful candidates will be expected to serve in respect of the party constitution till the end of their term in 2028.
On whether he can deliver a free and fair election being that some party members who were against the election have accused him of being impartial, Toterebuka said that his record isn’t questionable and can never work under anyone’s influence.
Speaking at the same press briefing, the party deputy spokesperson John Kikonyogo scoffed at those against the process and threatened to sue the party electoral commission chairman. He said if they are unable to find Toterebuka to serve him with any court documents, he is available to show them to him.
The FDC descended into chaos after a section of the party accused the top leaders of pocketing money given to them by President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni. The disagreement has since led to the division of the part with the Katonga faction holding an extraordinary delegates’ conference that suspended both Amuriat and Nandala as president and secretary general respectively.
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