Over 60 FDC leaders join Muntu’s New Formation
A total of 63 leaders from the biggest opposition political party Forum for Democratic Change in Ankole region have announced crossing over to Gen.Mugisha Muntu’s New Formation.
In September, only a few days after announcing his exit from FDC, Muntu unveiled his new political group named the ‘New Formation’ at a function held at Hotel Africana in Kampala.
On Thursday, FDC leaders from Ankole including district chairpersons, executive secretaries, youth leaders, mobilisers, chairmen electoral commission and religious leaders announced publicly they were leaving the party to join Muntu.
“We, the FDC leaders of Ankole sub-region gathered here, hereby inform members of the press and the general public that with effect from today 25 October 2018 have officially resigned our leadership positions in FDC party and have therefore ceased to be members of Forum for Democratic Change,” said the group in a joint press statement at a function held at Freedom Gardens in Mbarara town.
“Going forward, we officially declare that we will be part of ‘The New Formation’ a political platform in the process of forming a new political party by 25th December 2018.”
Leaving FDC
The group of FDC leaders explained they had not been coerced to leave the biggest opposition party but rather due to the divide between those supporting defiance championed by Dr.Kizza Besigye and party president Patrick Amuriat and the moderates.
“As you are aware, during the 2017 party presidential elections, there emerged clear differences in strategies the party would follow in its bid to capture power. We joined FDC to build a strong party with credible values that would help us capture power and use it to transform the nation.”
The group added: “We believe this can only be achieved through compromise and negotiation as opposed to confrontational approaches.”
They noted that they had realised that the country is experiencing a political vacuum due to increased dire need for change among the populace and subsequently had to join Muntu’s ‘New Formation.’
When contacted for a comment, the FDC deputy Secretary general Harold Kaija asked us to call him back later because he was still involved in organising relief being sent to Bududa mudslide victims.
In September, Muntu said he had decided to exit the biggest opposition party not because he was power hungry but because he felt his ideas could not accommodated within the party as they directly crushed with those of the party president, Patrick Amuriat.
“We fought each other to a state of paralysis within the party. We had failed to reconcile the two different strategies and our instability as FDC would be instability of the whole opposition,”Muntu said in reference to a situation where he has always walked parallel lines with many other FDC members including party president Patrick Amuriat in regards the defiance campaign started by Dr.Kizza Besigye.
“FDC now has an opportunity to do everything they wanted to do,” he added.
At the function to announce moving away from FDC, several Members of Parliament from the opposition, NRM and independents graced the function at Hotel Africana and these included; Gerald Karuhanga(Independent), Paul Mwiru,(FDC) Anna Adeke(Independent), Elijah Okupa(FDC),Angelina Osege(FDC),Simon Oyet(FDC), Herbert Ariku(FDC),Winnie Kiiza(FDC), Gafa Mbwatekamwa(NRM) and John Baptist Nambeshe(NRM).
“We hope for a leadership that is focused on turning around the country and causing real political change with democratic dividends,” said Karuhanga, one of the legislators who attended the function.
Muntu said he hopes to launch the new political party before December 25.
