A section of youth leaders, members and regional representatives of the Democratic Party(DP) have petitioned the National Council, one of the top organs of the party seeking to have the ongoing internal process stopped.
The Democratic Party recently kicked off internal elections in which it seeks to replace current leadership ahead of the 2026 general election.
On Tuesday, Norbert Mao was together with two others nominated for the position of party president ahead of the May 30 national delegates conference in Mbarara.
In a May, 6, petition, the youth leaders said the recent events and actions by the party secretary general and an "unauthorized management committee" in regards the internal polls have raised serious concerns about the integrity of the party National Delegates Conference (NDC) preparations.
The group led by Julius Dumba, the UYD Chairperson for Kampala District say the unilateral increase of nomination fees, notably for presidential candidates from shs5 million to shs10 million without approval from the National Executive Committee (NEC), disproportionately affects youth, women, and grassroots aspirants.
“ The Secretary General's oversight of structural elections, despite being an aspirant, creating a conflict of interest and undermining the impartiality of the process is illegal,” Dumba says as the lead petitioner.
He argues that the lack of transparency in the fee changes, payment channels, and the absence of evidence for gazetted amendments from the Gulu delegates conference, threatens the constitutional legitimacy of the upcoming national delegates conference.
“The commercialization of party politics through exorbitant fees and opaque processes, betrays DP's inclusive legacy and alienating its membership.”
Dumba says that unverified claim that 80% of National Delegates Conference delegates are profiled, despite incomplete lower-level elections in districts such as Kampala, raises suspicions of manipulation.
Demand
The youths want the DP National Council to immediately halt all structure building processes and National Delegates Conference preparations, and commission an independent audit, overseen by NEC and the National Council, to ensure compliance with the DP Constitution.
“We demand the National Council to rescind the unauthorized nomination fee hikes and establish affordable, NEC-approved fees through a transparent and inclusive process but also appoint an independent election committee,” Dumba said.
The youths want the DP National Council to dissolve the current election committee that they say is unapproved .
They also seek a NEC sanctioned committee to oversee all elections, free from conflicts of interest.
The petitioners also seek that a single transparent bank account for nomination fee payments to ensure accountability and prevent mismanagement.