The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Gulu, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party Najjanankumbi faction has turned to digital registration of membership cards for their party supporters to tackle stage-managed defections by the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party.
The party launched the digital membership registration portal in June this year from the party headquarters in Kampala and will be conducted in the sub-regions of Teso, Bugisu, West Nile, Lango, Elgon, Rwenzori, and East Buganda.
The initiative will replace the paper registration and membership cards which the party leaders say are now invalid.
Brian Ogutu, the deputy secretary for mobilization in charge of Northern Uganda says the self-digital membership registration is one of the ways the party is trying to fight the ruling party’s propaganda of parading members alleged to have defected from FDC.
He says the digital membership card unlike in the past which was just a paper card and easily duplicated will contain digital features with a complete database of all registered party members across the country. According to Ogutu, with the e-membership card, the party secretariat will easily be able to verify details of any member who will be paraded as a defector in the future by NRM and other political parties.
Ogutu says the e-registration main aim is to rally support from party supporters countrywide and bring on board those in other political parties who wouldn’t feel comfortable registering with the party in public.
In the Acholi Sub-region, the e-registration exercise will be launched on August 3rd at the Kaunda parade grounds in Bardege-Layibi division in Gulu City.
Hassan Kaps Fungaroo, the FDC (Najjanankumbi) Deputy President in charge of Northern Uganda says the launch of the e-registration exercise will be conducted in 21 locations within the six sub-regions in Uganda.
He says the move seeks to galvanize the grassroots support and structure that had been silent following the leadership row at the party.
Fungaroo notes that despite the infights at the party which he says were a result of a power row, they are striving to unite all its party members at the grassroots ahead of the 2024 general election.
Over the weekend, the FDC Najjanankumbi faction led by Patrick Amuriat Oboi launched the e-registration exercise and its new office in Arua City for a mobilization drive in the West Nile Sub-region.
According to Augustine Ojobile, the FDC Secretary Electoral Commission, more than 8,000 people have registered on the digital membership registration portal since its launch in June this year.
Formally established in 2004, the FDC party has been relying on paper membership cards and paper registration of its members across the country. The party says the old registration format has left it unable to track down an up-to-date authentic number of its members across the country.
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