”Lukwago and Semujju are not honest , they are just blackmailing us, they have failed us in the central region.”
Museveni’s money may cause further splitting of FDC the once opposition leading party, as its high ranking leader continue to counter accuse each other for eating a huge cake from the NRM’s head.
After FDC’s general election in 2018 Maj. Gen. Mugisha Muntu having lost to Eng. Patrick Amurait for the party’s position of president, in 2019 he broke a way and created a new party the Alliance for National Transformation were he went with some group that believed in him and the notable ones were the former leader of opposition in parliament Winnie Kiiza and Paul Mwiru the former Jinja East MP.
On Monday this week the faction which is still believing in Dr. Besigye convened a meeting at Nsambya Sharing Hall in pretext of consulting members while preparing for the forthcoming party’s election but the meeting that lasted for a day long, the leaders who addressed the party’s lower cadres from the different parts of the central region dwelled on accusing the party’s president and the General Secretary for ‘selling’ their party to Museveni and his NRM.
Semujju Ibrahim Nganda the party spokesperson shunned his routine weekly press briefing which takes place every Monday at Najjanamkubi and instead opted for the meeting at Sharing Hall Nsambya which same meeting was attended by the Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago and some MPS but Dr. Besigye wasn’t in attendance but it’s rumored that he funded it.
Today Nandala Mafabi the General Secretary and Eng.Patrick Amuriat the president addressed a press conference at Najjanamkubi and denied having received any single coin from president Museveni not even from his party but they also counter accused Semujju and Lukwago whom they said that they are one of the biggest beneficiary of government funds as well as Museveni’s money among the opposition leaders.
Amuriat said that because of the infighting his campaigns of 2021 was so far the party’s least funded as compared to all the past general election campaigns when Dr. Besigye was still holding the FDC flag. He said that he used Ushs 3 billion while in 2016 when he was the national coordinators of Besigye campaigns by then they used Ushs.11 billion.
Eng. Amuriat said that the cause of the internal bickering is the existence of two centers of power with the party, the one based at Najjanamkumbi and the other at Katonga and secondly Besigye alleged in 2020 NEC meeting that my side received money from Museveni but we challenged him to prove this by tabling evidence which up to today he has never adduced but he is still maligning him and the secretary general.
The Secretary General Nandala Mafabi said that he has served that party for all the time it has been in existence and sacrificed a lot of resources so there is no way he can at last sell it to Museveni he challenged Semujju to avail evidence to the disciplinary committee.
“ For us we talk with evidence Semujju and Lukwago have received and enjoyed both government and Museveni’s money and it’s on record. The former on various occasions have signed and gotten money on foreign trips which he has never gone on the MP and the evidence is here.’’ Mafabi then gives journalist a document indicating how Semujju has been receiving funds.
He further wondered that if Lukwago is not a mole of President Museveni how come he when he won the court case his money was released by government yet there are many other people who have beaten government in courts of law in several cases for a long time but they have never gotten they court awards.
Meanwhile Dr Kizza Besigye who also addressed reporters at his Katonga offices today at the same hour when Nandala and Amuriat were holding a press briefing at the party’s Headquarters said his party is a victim of ‘state capture’ and must change the strategy or they will end up as partners of the ruling NRM.
“The huge challenge is State capture and the inability of parties to function in such environment without being corrupted. When there is State capture, people can’t presents themselves as a political party that would function like it’s the case in countries with democracy.’’ Dr. Besigye reasoned.
He further said that there has been capture of the politics through commercialization something that is being done deliberately to kill the opposition political parties. He also said that this has included the patronage system that gives favors to only the political elite.
By George Bukenya
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