The party president, Eng Patrick Oboi Amuriat, has been suspended by the Forum for Democratic Change-FDC Extra Ordinary Delegates Conference, which is meeting in Kampala.
Erias Lukwago, the city’s mayor and the party’s vice president in charge of Buganda, has been named as the interim leader.
The conference also decided to suspend the party’s treasurer Geoffrey Ekanya and secretary general Nathan Nandala Mafabi. From the ‘People’s Government’ headquarters in Katonga, Kampala, FDC party spokesperson Ibrahim Semujju Nganda delivered the delegate’s conference resolution.
He claims that Francis Mwijukye is now the Treasurer, Harold Kaija is the Secretary-General, and Lukwago is now the Party President.
These were the officials’ assistants who were put on leave. The temporary officials will hold office for a period of six months while the party finds a solution to its problems.
Lukwago claims that opposing the Delegates Conference, which was requested by the party’s Electoral Commission, is high on his agenda when he takes office.
The summit, which is slated to take place on October 6, 2023, at the party headquarters in Najjanankumbi, is unlawful, according to Lukwago, who also asked his recently appointed coworkers to remain strong in advancing the FDC Agenda.
Wasswa Birigwa, the party’s national chairman, convened today’s Extraordinary Delegates Conference at his Nature’s Green Beach Resort in Busabala. Security had been stationed at the beach’s entrance by 8 a.m. to prevent the meeting from taking place.
At the entrance to the beach, security was encamped with more than 15 Field Force Unit officers and more than 10 military personnel.
A few early-arriving attendees were refused entry and ordered to leave, while journalists were told to keep away from the venue because there was nothing happening there.
A man who identified himself as a meeting delegate was spotted being beaten up by more than 30 non-uniformed individuals in the trading center, just a few meters from the beach.
Delegates gathered at the Katonga office to hold the meeting after it became clear that the conference couldn’t continue at the designated location.
On Monday, John Kikonyogo, the deputy spokesperson for the Forum for Democratic Change-FDC party, accused colleagues of having bad intentions toward the Party President and Secretary General by pressing for a Delegates Conference.
In a news conference at the party’s Najjanankumbi headquarters, Kikonyogo said that the supporters of the extraordinary delegates meeting had no specific goals other than to remove the party’s president, Eng Patrick Oboi Amuriat, and secretary general, Nathan Nandala Mafabi.
Wasswa Birigwa, the party’s national chairman, requested that an extra-ordinary delegates conference be held on Tuesday, September 19, at his Busabala house. He stated that the conference’s purpose is to tackle the various party difficulties, such as the contentious internal elections, claims of “dirty” money, and worries about inadequate governance.
Almost three months ago, when money-related allegations first surfaced and sparked a public discussion, a number of FDC members urged for the postponement of the election until the money-related claims were proven false.
However, the request was rejected by the party’s president and secretary general, who said they wouldn’t halt a Council- and NEC-approved party activity. The elections, which were roundly rejected, allegedly took place throughout the nation.
Additionally, by the time the FDC had its Special National Council on July 28, word had spread that a number of locations had picked their leaders at the village level. According to Kikonyogo, the National Council decided that the regions in which the leaders had not been elected would cooperate with the electoral commission to hold elections there.
By claiming that requests for an election appeal should be sent to the party electoral commission and the elections tribunal rather than the office of the national chairman, he refuted Birigwa’s claim that he had received complaints against the election.