Museveni to meet political party heads

According to Farouk Kirunda, Deputy Press Secretary to the President, the meeting will take place on Wednesday, December 29, 2021. 

“President Museveni will hold a meeting with Secretary Generals under the I.P.O.D arrangement. This is part of efforts to promote democratic coexistence and stability in the country,” Kirunda said.

Although the venue for the meeting has not been revealed, previously Mr Museveni has held meetings with party leaders at the Kololo Independence Grounds. 

Under the Political Party and Organisations Act 2005, IPOD membership consists of parties that have representation in Parliament.

These include the National Resistance Movement (NRM), National Unity Platform (NUP), the Democratic Party (DP), the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), the Uganda People’s Congress (UPC) and The Justice Forum (commonly referred to as JEEMA).

IPOD excludes parties like Alliance for National Transformation (ANT), which has two Members of Parliament namely Ntungamo Municipality MP Gerald Karuhanga and his counterpart Paul Mwiru from Jinja East. ANT is led by former FDC President, Maj. Gen Mugisha Muntu.

There are 26 registered political parties in Uganda, according to the Electoral Commission. 

Political parties are more divided than ever in the wake of the bitterly contested Kayunga LC V by-elections which left NUP and NRM at cross-purposes, trading recriminations that have driven a deep wedge between them.

This latest IPOD meeting is seen as an attempt to heal this divide.

Then there’s the small matter of funding for political parties through IPOD.

At the last IPOD summit, it was resolved that funding to Political Parties with representation in Parliament be increased from the current 10 billion to 35 billion Shillings.   

To some, this is viewed as an instrument of control used by the government over the political parties. But, still, a necessary evil.

Frank Rusa, the country representative at the Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy (NIMD), says that the key funders of parties should be the party members and other institutions.

Parties, however, were suspended when the NRM seized power in 1986. The suspension stayed in force for two decades during which Uganda was governed under a no-party (Movement) system. 

General elections were held in Uganda on February 23, 2006. They were the first multi-party elections since President Yoweri Museveni took over power in 1986, and followed a referendum the previous year on scrapping the ban on party politics. 

This background partly explains why parties are financially weak and could do with a shot in the arm in the form of IPOD funds.

“Political parties are the gatekeepers of democracy and can deal with serious important issues aligned to national objectives as spelt out in the Constitution,” Mr. Rusa said. 

He said funding for only those political parties represented in Parliament is incorrect, noting that parties may have representation at the district level and thus play a role in governance.

This role must be recognised and duly funded, he said.

Ms. Alice Alaso, the acting national coordinator at the Alliance for National Transformation (ANT) party, agreed that providing public finance to registered political parties is important. 

“We (ANT) are not beneficiaries of public funding because the law provides for representation in Parliament. We do not qualify to be in the Interparty Party Organisation for Dialogue. But we have district councilors. When you do not fund parties, you are making it hard for parties to operate,” Ms. Alaso said. 

Ms Alaso said that the cost of joining politics is prohibitive to most individuals and parties.

“The swindlers and the corrupt are the ones who can join politics. This is creating a strongman syndrome because people who can fund parties own it,” Ms Alaso said. 

One hopes that all these bones of contention may be resolved when the president meets the leaders of political parties tomorrow.