Dr Kizza Besigye, one of the founding fathers of the opposition Forum for Democratic Change-FDC has dismissed the report by the Elders’ Committee into allegations of “dirty” money brought into the party.
The committee led by Dr. Frank Nabwiso was constituted after Dr. Besigye reported to the FDC National Council information that he had received information indicating that the FDC Secretary General Nathan Nandala Mafabi had brought dirty into the party money from the State House.
Besigye allegedly received the information weeks after Nandala had entrusted him with Shillings 300 million and given another Shillings 280 million to the party president, Eng Patrick Oboi Amuriat.
According to Besigye, Nandala told him that the money from his account, which he feared Uganda Revenue Authority would cease due to pending tax issues with his companies.
Following Besigye’s allegations, the FDC leadership constituted a committee in May 2023 to investigate the matter.
In July 2023, the committee submitted a report of its investigation to the party president Patrick Oboi Amuriat.
The same was presented before the special National Council sitting held at the party headquarters on July 28, 2023.
Commenting about the report on Monday morning, Dr. Besigye said that the investigations ignored the key question that he raised with the party concerning the “dirty” money and instead sought to reconcile him with Nandala.
Dr. Besigye explained that he has no personal grudges against Nandala, which needed reconciliation of the committee.
Addressing journalists at his People’s Government offices at Katonga Road, Besigye said that the report is not even worth the papers it’s written on.
The four-time presidential candidate said the problem with the investigations started with how the committee was appointed.
After Besigye had made the revelations regarding the “dirty” money, before the National Council sitting in November 2022, a decision was taken to establish a committee to investigate the matter.
However, the committee was constituted six months later. Besigye says there was information that the delay in the appointment of the committee emanated from the question of who should appoint it.
He says there were suggestions that it is appointed by the National Committee while others thought, it should be by the party President Amuriat.
In the end, Amuriat appointed a seven-member committee, which was approved by the FDC National Executive Committee-NEC.
Dr. Besigye wonders how a person who himself had received part of the “dirty” money could appoint a committee to investigate him. This is why, says Besigye, during the inauguration of the committee, as written in the report, Amuriat informed the committee that their main task was to help bring about reconciliation between the two leaders.
Besigye criticized the committee for being impartial, arguing that the conduct of the committee forced one of the members to resign on the grounds that the committee secretary, who is said to have been appointed by Nandala wasn’t recording proceedings of the meetings accurately.
Besigye claims that some of his views were not captured in the said report.
He says that the party is currently under siege and that its members should rescue it, adding that there are plans by dissatisfied members of the party to mobilize others to rescue the party.
He says that the People’s Government too shall be fighting to rescue FDC but at a large scale, the country.
The quarrels over the said money went public last month when the party was in the process of conducting internal elections.
Some party members demanded that elections be halted until the internal conflicts are resolved and the party Electoral Commission better organized to handle the process.
However, Amuriat, Nandala, and their allies insisted on the elections, which they say commenced on July 21st, 2023.
Besigye dismissed the elections, saying that even in places where it was claimed they had happened, media reports indicated that they hadn’t.
Besigye wishes that the party’s National Council meets again, and when it does, it puts in place a transitional leadership to steer the party to a credible election.
The transitional government, he says should start with appointing experts to conduct a forensic audit of the party resources and also general management of the party.
Besigye’s Full Statement
BACKGROUND:
I presented to the FDC National Council (NC) sitting on 25th November 2022 my reasons why I didnt actively join in the FDC campaigns of 2021. I indicated that I didnt consider that FDC was serious about having a serious presidential campaign.
First, in spite of having formally informed the party in 2018 that I wouldnt vie to be a candidate in 2021 elections, no effort was made to identify and promote a candidate until the 11th hour.
Secondly, during the process of identifying a party presidential flag bearer (late September 2020), I received intelligence reports that FDC senior leaders had solicited for and received money from the State House.
Engagements with relevant leaders, who included Hon Amuriat Oboi, Hon Nandala Mafabi, Hon Geoffrey Ekanya and Hon Jack Sabiiti, over this very concerning matter were unfruitful.
Thirdly, when Hon Amuriat Oboi emerged as a party flagbearer, he set up a Campaign Bureau to plan for and manage the presidential campaign. When the bureau had just begun its work, it was unceremoniously disbanded and the candidate didnt have a campaign bureau for the entire course of the campaign! This, coupled with the information on source of funding convinced me that there wasnt a campaign worth risking for.
Its the above presentation to NC and the rebuttals made by Hon Nandala Mafabi that, I understand, prompted the NC to resolve that an FDC Committee of Elders should be set up to inquire into the matters, with a view to establishing the facts and to report back to NC.
THE SPECIAL ELDERS COMMITTEE (SEC):
The SEC was appointed by FDC President, Hon Amuriat Oboi, 6 months after the NC resolution! I understand that this was partly due to a controversy as to who should appoint the Committee- the FDC Chairman (who chairs the NC) or the Party President.
Since the issues to be inquired into concerned the leaders of the FDC Executive- Party President (PP), Secretary General (SG) and Treasurer General (TG), it would be imprudent for the same people to set up a team to inquire into their activities. So, the SEC was appointed and Inaugurated by one of the key people to appear before it!
One of the SEC members was FDC Deputy Chairperson, a part of the NC Chair, to which the report was to be presented! One of the 7 appointed members didnt take up his appointment.
Nonetheless, when the Committee was set up, I proceeded to submit myself to it on 6th June 2023. I thought that it would still be able to establish important facts that we had previously failed to get.
I was shocked when the SEC told me that their main task was to reconcile me with Hon Nandala Mafabi!.
I informed the SEC that there was nothing personal between us that I knew of. I informed them that there were issues of concern, which I raised about and with, especially, the four senior FDC leaders pointed out above.
In my submission to the SEC, I offered the information I had, and, additionally, empahasised the need for the Committee to get the facts (from relevant bank and party records) relating to the funds received ahead of the 2021 elections and their disbursement. This would have been at the heart of disposing the concerns around the “dirty money”.
SHS 300 MILLION FROM HON NANDALA MAFABI:
Hon Nandala told me that he had a tax dispute with URA and was worried his money could be seized from his accounts. He asked me if I could temporarily keep Shs 500 million cash for him. I told him that my home was insecure, but could find a safe place to keep it. Please note that at this time, no mention of elections or FDC was made. It was just money from my friend/colleague.
He then sent his driver, who arrived at my home at about 10 pm, during curfew time. This was my first concern: I wondered how a driver would be entrusted to curry a large sum of cash during curfew time. It turned out what he carried was Shs 300 million; not 500, as earlier indicated. I informed Hon Nandala and he confirmed the variation.
I later transferred it to where I thought it would be safer than my home.
The Shs 300 million was in brand new 20,000 Shs notes, wrapped in bundles of Shs 20 million each; labelled “Bank of Uganda” with serial numbers of all the notes indicated. When the information about “dirty money” broke out about two weeks later, I decided to recover and keep these label.
A few days before the elections, while I was in Rukungiri, Hon Nandala called me at night and informed me that they needed the Shs 300 million to be used in paying polling agents.
I informed him that I would arrange for the money to be picked from Nsambya Total Station the next day.
This was because there was security at the Station and I would be able to get acknowledgement that it was received.
Neither the FDC officials, nor the responsible manager at Nsambya Station ever informed me that some of the money (Shs 670,000=) was not delivered.
I heard about this in the course of the SEC inquiry, when Hon Amuriat Oboi and Nandala Mafabi convened several FDC District leaders meetings to explain the “dirty money” and distributed some documents. One of the documents showing that Shs 670,000= of the Shs 300 million wasnt received!
I have since found out that some of the money had been changed to US dollars, to avoid loss of value due to inflation thats very common around elections. However, at the time of conversion, the Shilling had actually appreciated, leading to the short fall. Ive learnt about all this during the SEC process. If Id been informed of this, it would have been rectified right away. I have also been informed that the FDC official who collected the money from Nsambya was the one who preferred to take it in portions.
In the course of this controversy, one of the investigations I conducted was to establish the source of the new bank notes that were kept with me. The Bank of Uganda keeps a record of how new currency notes are released into circulation. Although this wouldnt be conclusive, it adds useful circumstantial evidence. I presented this to the SEC.
SPECIAL ELDERS COMMITTEE REPORT:
The SEC never made the slightest attempt to establish the facts that could help lead to unveiling the truth relating to the “dirty money”. As shown in their “Terms of Reference”, they only planned to interview relevant FDC leaders and some “experts” and write a report.
My presentation to the SEC was selectively and inaccurately recorded. In other areas, what I presented has been spinned to relay a different meaning!
For example, I specifically requested the Committee to inquire into party accounts and financial records. It was being said that FDC had borrowed money for use in elections. However, no one, including the Ag Party President, Owek Joyce Ssebuggwawo, or the substantive PP knew how much money, if any, was borrowed; from whom; and on what terms.
I also gave the serial numbers of the new money notes and bundles (Shs 300m) I received for the SEC to also inquire as to whether it was from the Commercial banks.
The funds of the party during the 2020/21 electoral period was never inquired into at all. So, the report does not touch on the monies that the party received and used during the contentious period!
Whats recorded as the FINDINGS of the SEC are our respective (poorly recorded) statements made to them! Their only recorded “finding” is that “this issue is a sensitive one and responsible for the dispute between Hon Mafabi and Dr Besigye”!
In Hon Nandalas story, recorded by the SEC, he only talked about the Shs 300 million that was given to me. He never talked about the Shs 280 million given to Hon Amuriat and the rest of the money he spent during the election period! The SEC, certainly, didnt interest themselves in this, even having realised that it was the main issue.
Up to now, and in spite of the SEC report, no one or organ of FDC knows how much money was raised/ received and used during the election time. If money was borrowed from Hon Nandala, as he seems to have told the SEC, wasnt it only logical that he indicates how much, on what terms, and and the agreements between lender and borrower?
Accordingly, I consider that the SEC report didnt help at all in disposing of the highly contentious issue of “dirty money”.
The SEC provided an opportunity for the current FDC managers to dispel the (strong) suspicion/ information that they got “dirty money” in September 2020 by providing the relevant facts and they opted not to use it.
CONCLUSIONS:
The SEC report, clearly, doesnt absolve the FDC leaders who are suspected of having received “dirty money”. In fact, their actions before, during and after the SEC report, further point to their culpability.
Considering the level of lack of cooperation and hostility now exhibited by the current (affected) top leaders of FDC, it may not be possible to get the relevant facts, while they hold their offices.
IMPACT OF UNRESOLVED CONTROVERSIES ON FDC INTERNAL ELECTIONS:
Unfortunately, the “hostile” influence that has taken a grip of the FDC is playing out in the process of the internal elections under way. Its been getting increasingly clear that this “hostile” influence seeks to takeover the party through the internal elections.
Its now clear that the organ of the party thats charged with the day-to-day running of the party- NEC, is dysfunctional, on account of not agreeing with what its leaders, PP and SG want done. It hasnt been able to sit and deal with many outstanding critical issues.
This is also the cause of the most chaotic National Council sitting in the history of FDC, where State security was at play in a clearly biassed manner!
The FDC Electoral Commission has demonstrated that its compromised by the “hostile” influence. Otherwise, the EC would have been relating with decisions of NEC and also acting prudently and transparently.
The Media has been effective in revealing the lies about elections having taken place in many areas, whereas not. There is a lot of evidence of people being solicited to accept party positions, as having been duly elected! Such gross violations of the procedures and SPIRIT of FDC show a major crash in the functioning of the party.
Indeed, when the EC announced that elections had taken place in 93% of all Districts, it confirmed that something was grossly wrong with it.
THE WAY FORWARD FOR FDC AND THE LIBERATION STRUGGLE:
My appreciation is that the FDC leaders who have superintended over the current chaos in the party are no longer likely to reflect on their course of action.
The FDC party structures must compel them to do the right thing to save the party. They must mobilise, organise and resist their further actions along the path of fraudulent internal elections.
The National Council is supposed to sit (at least once) and should sit before the envisaged National Delegates Conference. It should undertake whatever corrective measures that are necessary for the party to function in a “normal” transparent way that affords all members to participate in its processes.
Effort should also be made to try and resolve the unresolved “dirty money” issue. Its recommended that a forensic audit be commissioned, as a part of the corrective processes, ahead of inclusive, transparent party elections.
Meanwhile, these intraparty wrangles shouldnt take our focus off the main struggle of liberating our country.
Therefore, concurrently, the Peoples Government will also get in high gear to mobilise the PG leaders and the public to undertake the necessary actions to free our country.
Weve already marked 60 Independence anniversaries without ever having a democratic change of government! Lets aim at making the next anniversaries different. We must aim at celebrating real Independence, where Uganda is truly in the hands and control of our citizens.
The current cloud in FDC is, likely, a part of the birth pains of a new situation in the country. Let all Ugandans unite and fight to bring forth a New Uganda.
One Uganda; One People! We shall overcome.
Signed:
Kizza Besigye.
