The Deputy Presidential Press Secretary, Faruk Kirunda, is demanding an apology from the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) for what he termed as maligning President Museveni’s name.
“Lies run faster but truth arrives first, the saying goes!” tweeted Kirunda in reference to a recent saga in which FDC Secretary General, Nandala Mafabi, and President Patrick Amuriat Oboi were accused of receiving funds from President Museveni during the 2021 presidential elections.
During the 15th National Council meeting held on the 24th and 25th of November 2022, allegations of “dirty money” had arisen, prompting the council to establish an Elders Committee tasked with resolving the dispute.
Subsequently, in a National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting on the 12th of May 2023, a committee comprising seven elders was approved to handle this task.
The members of the Committee included: Charles Makaru, Joe Emusu Ediegu, Mama Tiko Martha Ondoga, Kasozi Robinson, Dr Frank Nabwiso, Mukalazi Kibuka and Tugume Stanley Katembeya.
The committee also constituted a legal adviser Counsel Tugume Moses (an advocate of the High Court and all Subordinate Courts) and Counsel Kayanja Thomas to serve as the Secretary to the Committee.
The Special Elders’ Committee on Friday shared its Report during a special sitting of the National Council held at the FDC headquarters in Najjanankumbi and subsequently cleared Amuriat and Mafabi of the allegations.
“Now that the FDC leadership has established the source of funding which had caused much bickering in the party, isn’t it appropriate that President Museveni is accorded an apology for maligning his name?” tweeted Kirunda.
Money from hostile sources
The Committee first convened on 5th June 2023 and President Amuriat informed them that during the already quoted National Council sitting, the founding Party President, Dr Kizza Besigye, explained why he did not actively participate in the 2021 General Elections, and that he received private information that the Secretary General of the Party (Hon. Nathan Nandala Mafabi) had received money from hostile sources or “dirty money” intended to weaken the Party’s ability to challenge NRM’s long military and dictatorial rule.
“The Committee found this issue a sensitive one and responsible for the dispute between Dr Besigye and Hon. Mafabi. The disagreement stemmed from the fact that Hon. Mafabi asked Dr Besigye to keep for him Uganda Shillings 300 million for the agents. In turn, Dr. Besigye was allegedly contacted by a source from State House saying there was some money received by some FDC Party leaders from State House. This made Dr. Besigye to cause a meeting with some of the leaders who were directly concerned about the matter but that meeting and other subsequent meetings did not yield results. Dr. Besigye stated before the Committee that money released from the Bank of Uganda is dispatched to three entities i.e. commercial banks, security agencies and State House. He further averred that he also took the initiative to find out and the serial numbers on the new notes he received pointed to State House,” reads the report.
On the other hand, Hon. Mafabi while appearing before the Committee denied that he never received any money from the State House, he contended that towards the 2021 General Elections, the Party was in a financial crisis as it needed close to Shs2.7 billion, excluding the cost for printing posters and financing candidates.
The National Executive Committee (NEC) authorized him to borrow funds to run the Party activities during that period and he produced an extract of the minutes where he was authorized.
He further averred that in the process of looking for money, they approached Dr. Besigye to help them raise the money. Instead, Dr. Besigye asked them to prepare the budget which they did but he never got back to them.
The account of Hon. Mafabi is in consonance with the submission of Hon. Ekanya Geoffrey (FDC’s current Treasurer General), Kyambadde Wilberforce (FDC’s current Deputy Treasurer General) and Eng. Amuriat confirmed that NEC authorized Hon. Mafabi to borrow money but also averred that they knew the money was obtained from legitimate sources.
Hon. Mafabi tendered before the Committee a bank statement from Kyambogo Stanbic Bank where the money that was delivered to Dr. Besigye was withdrawn.
“In principle, Dr Besigye was not wrong to seek clarification on the sources of money for promoting transparency in the Party. He was not also wrong to table the matter in the Busabala meetings, but Busabala’s failure to resolve the matter was unfortunate. If it had resolved the matter, Dr Besigye would have not raised it in the National Council meeting,” read the report.
It added: “The Committee further notes the long-standing practice in the FDC of not disclosing all the sources of its money. This is also the practice in many political parties across the world. It is therefore difficult to abandon it given the little income which can be raised from the FDC members. Therefore, there is a need for the Party to review how it will continue to work with its private funders Vis-à-vis covert sources and public image.”
Recommendations:
The report was presented to council members and after deliberations, it was put to a vote and adopted with recommendations including; the need for reconciliation among party members, the importance of fostering tolerance within the party to promote unity and understanding among members and encouragement of grooming and supporting young leaders within the party, ensuring a strong future leadership.
Other recommendations include; consideration of amending the party’s constitution to address any shortcomings and improve its effectiveness, addressing the absence of an organogram for the party, which is essential for organizational structure and efficiency, exploring the development of alliances with other political parties to strengthen the party’s position and influence and the necessity of creating a detailed history of the FDC, is likely to preserve the party’s legacy and principles.
Furthermore, the National Council resolved that the ongoing party structure elections should proceed as planned and the districts that have not conducted their elections were urged to collaborate with the party electoral commission to determine a suitable timeline for holding their elections.
Council members commended the great work done by the elder’s committee and agreed that any differences should be handled within the party organs.