)
)
General Mugisha Muntu, the leader of the Alliance for National Transformation (ANT), has been speaking out about the financial hurdles his party has faced since its inception in 2019.
His comments come in the wake of a newly signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between ANT and the People’s Front for Freedom (PFF).
The two political entities emerged from the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) and formalised their cooperation on 2nd July.
Muntu, in a televised interview, admitted to struggling to build the party’s ground structures and shed light on the pervasive influence of money in Ugandan politics.
)
)
)
The Financial Hurdle to National Reach
Muntu revealed that since 2019, when they launched the party, they have not managed to move fast to strengthen the ANT’s support countrywide.
“We have been moving around the country, holding meetings at the sub-county level, but the challenge we have faced and what we found on the ground that has hindered us from covering the entire nation is money," he revealed.
He pointed out that contemporary Ugandan politics is heavily monetised, and only political parties with parliamentary representation receive government funding through the National Consultative Forum.
As ANT currently lacks any Members of Parliament, he said, it is excluded from this vital financial support.
Muntu lamented the weakened national culture, where citizens do not recognise their responsibility to financially support political parties.
“The people do not know that they are responsible for building political parties, not the other way round, because parties are the vehicles that move the affairs of the nation,” he said.
“People do not know that they have the responsibility of investing money in political parties in the same way that they give money in churches and mosques, or how they contribute to weddings and funerals. Yet, politics, which is embedded in all aspects of our lives, is not being funded by the people.”
He recalled a time in the 1960s and 70s when parties like UPC and DP were actively funded by the populace.
)
Mugisha Muntu
The Monetisation of Politics
Muntu squarely laid the blame for the current state of affairs on President Yoweri Museveni, whom he accused of introducing the "vice of monetising politics" to sideline opponents.
He asserted that Museveni, by dishing out taxpayers' money for political support, could afford to "hook people," leading to the current phenomenon where voters demand money from candidates during campaigns.
This, Muntu argued, creates an uneven playing field: "Sadly, people who have money are corrupt. The decent ones do not have money to give to the voters."
The ANT was officially launched in March 2019, spearheaded by General Mugisha Muntu.
Its formation followed Muntu's departure from the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) in September 2018, citing ideological differences with the new FDC leadership.
Muntu, a former Army Commander and FDC President, along with key figures like Alice Alaso, sought to establish a new political vehicle focused on building strong grassroots structures and promoting an institutional approach to political change, rather than a confrontational one.
The party was formally approved by the Electoral Commission of Uganda in March 2019, paving the way for its official launch and a commitment to spreading palliative care across the continent.