Internal wrangling hurting UPC’s 2016 road map

By Patrick Kagenda

With the UPC party president term due to end on March 13, and a court injunction hanging on the party, the UPC could be headed for harder times in its history.

The UPC woes began when a faction of the UPC led by Jimmy Akena took the party leadership to court and successfully had a court injunction in place restraining the entire party, its offices or agents from carrying out any activityincluding grassroots elections for structures development.

Both the party and those who went to court to impose the injunction are today stuck as no one can carry out any party activity in the name of the UPC.

Okello Lucima the Party spokesperson told the media during the party weekly briefing that, “As the leadership of the party we are in contact with the opposing side and hope that soon we can resolve this whether through the court process or through direct conversation with those who had gone to court to stop the UPC activities.”

UPC Party President Olara Otunnu has always maintained that the party leadership operates an open door policy for all the UPC who had been confliction or groups with grievances against the party to come back and together build the party.

With Olara Otunnu`s  expiry of term of office just days away, it is not known whether the party will have resolved its infighting to hold an annual Delegates Conference to elect a new party president something that puts the party in a crisis.

However party spokesperson Okello Lucima says, “The expiry of the term of office of Olara Otunnu cannot put the party in a leadership crisis because UPC is not confined to the presidency and is not Olara Otunnu.  The party has its constitution and governing documents. The highest organ of the party is the delegate’s conference and the last one we had was in 2010 when Olara Otunnu was elected. The ADC which represents the will, interest and the aspirations of the UPC members living and those who have departed on whose legacy the party stands repose their will in the party president who is Olara Otunnu.”

Lucima notes that there are processes within UPC that have to be exhausted before coming to the rituals of electing new office bearers saying, “We still believe that we are on course and until that is done the legitimate authority will be reposed in those who were elected by  the 2010 ADC.”

“Once grievances and concerns are addressed the party will move forward in rebuilding and putting in place robust structures at the grassroots and re-new membership so that it can again compete favorably,” he says.