At least 63 FDC leaders all from Ankole sub-region have resigned their positions and quit FDC to join Mugisha Muntu’s ‘New Formation’ political group.
The leaders who include district, constituency and sub county chairpersons, mobilizers, secretaries and youth leaders announced their resignation in a statement released on Thursday.
They say their decision to leave the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), Uganda’s strongest opposition party is informed by the sharp differences in strategies that have left FDC divided.
In September, former President of FDC, Mugisha Muntu announced that he is forming a new political party. He said that the new political organization will be formed based on deep ideological reflection, clear policy positions and consultations.
A number of MPs attended the launch of the New Formation, but it was unclear if they had joined and who else apart from former FDC Secretary Alice Alaso was crossing from FDC to join Muntu.
Now, the leaders in the Ankole subregion have come out to explain that their resignation follows what they called irreconcilable differences that sprung from the 2017 FDC Presidential elections in which Patrick Amuriat defeated Muntu.
“We the FDC leaders of Ankole sub-region inform members of the press and the general public that with effect from 25th October 2018, we have officially resigned our leadership positions in FDC party and therefore have ceased to be members of FDC,” the defectors said in the statement.
They say Amuriat represented defiance while Muntu fronted party development and defiance, but in the end the Amuriat camp emerged victorious.
“A significant number of people of people who believed in both strategies felt uncomfortable in a party pursuing a sole strategy as a means of capturing power and transforming this nation,” they added.
The group notes that there is a political vacuum which is evidenced by the fact that 40% of the Ugandan electorate do not vote. This, they say, is a result of the failure by the opposition to attract special interest groups particularly women who have for long distanced themselves from associating themselves with opposition groups.
“We believe in an idea that our country needs a rebranded political organization built on values of civility, equity, justice and tolerance able to collaborate with other forces of change irrespective of differences in philosophies and approaches upheld by members of these groups”.
In their statement, they sat that they have tried everything possible to engage leaders in the defiance group on how best to be accommodated in the party but all their efforts have yielded no fruits.
They argue that in order to transform Uganda and build an attractive political culture, there is need for compromise and negotiations as opposed to “confrontation approaches”.
On Friday, the new members of ‘The New Formation’ unveiled their office which is located in Mbarara Town that will be coordinating their activities.