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While speaking to Pulse Uganda in a telephone interview, the executive director of the Centre for Constitutional Governance, Sarah Bireete, said that the ruling Government giving money to some FDC members — if true — is a deliberate attempt to capture the opposition political parties and make them dysfunctional, a claim the National Resistance Movement (NRM) has repeatedly denied.
Lawyer Peter Walubiri told this website that the idea of multiparty politics has not worked in Uganda, despite allowing other political parties to operate. He said that Uganda has largely remained a one-party state where everything is controlled by the party in power, the NRM.
Former FDC party legal advisor Luyimbazi Nalukoola said that political parties are supposed to be able to use their own internal mechanisms to resolve burning issues in a free democratic country. She said this is not the case in Uganda, where some outside actors would want to forcefully influence change in opposition political parties.
On Tuesday, September 19, 2023, the FDC delegates conference which was organised by party chairperson Wasswa Birigwa and held at Katonga offices, unanimously resolved to throw out their party president Patrick Amuriat and secretary general Nandala Mafabi, naming an interim leadership headed by Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago.
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Party members also resolved to suspend Geofrey Ekanya and electoral head Toterebuka Bamwenda.
The conference attracted quite a number of party members, including party officials from upcountry areas such as Busia.
During the event, Police also used teargas to disperse top members of the FDC who wanted to attend.
Pulse Uganda learnt that Busabala was the initial planned venue for the event, but it was shifted to Katonga Road offices after Police blocked access to the initial venue. Roads leading to Katonga have also been blocked by police amidst a standoff.
It should be noted that the court had earlier issued an injunction stopping the delegated conference. Birigwa's faction, however, defied the injunction and went on with the event.