FDC Party Spokesperson accuses FDC party Secretary General for selling the party to NRM
The Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party in Uganda is facing internal conflicts, with Hon. Ibrahim Semujju Nganda accusing Hon. Nathan Nandala Mafabi, the FDC Party Secretary General, of dishonesty and selling the party to the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM). These accusations were made on a talk show on NBS TV which airs every Thursday at 10pm on 20th July 2023, , where Semujju also claimed that Nandala Mafabi hired goons to attack journalists covering a press conference at the party headquarters.
The situation escalated when both the FDC's national chairman Amb. Waswa Birigwa was allegedly held against his will inside the party headquarters by a group of thugs. The chaos led to journalists being attacked and robbed by these individuals. The party is divided over issues like the timing of grassroots elections and selection of new office bearers, with factions led by Amuriat and Lukwago/Semujju holding differing views. Nandala Mafabi, in response to Semujju's accusations, denied being involved in dishonest dealings and mocked the incident of the chairman calling a press conference at the party headquarters.
Meanwhile, the National Resistance Movement and government spokesperson, Ofwono Opondo, commented on the FDC's current state, expressing doubt about its ability to regain its past position.
For her part, former Leader of Oppostion in Parliament Winnie Kizza felt sorry for the FDC party members who have decided to wash their dirty linen in public and reechoed the Alliance for National Transformation’s President General Mugisha Muntu’s word; its only time that will tell who the real moles are.
In the midst of the turmoil, both Semujju and Nandala Mafabi engaged in a heated exchange on the talk show, further escalating tensions within the party.
Verbal and personal attacks between Nandala Mafabi and Semujju Nganda.
You are a liar, dishonest and you cannot smear others with your dirt is how Semujju reasoned Mafabi on the talk show. He added that Nandala Mafabi folded his long-sleeved white shirt and violently confronted Kizza Besigye after being asked about the source of 300 million shs that he presented to the National Executive Committee.
In response, Mafabi lied that he only wears ling sleeved shirts only for the internet to pop a picture of him wearing a white long-sleeved shirt while being carried in celebratory mood at an earlier victory party.
Hon. Semujju Nganda emphasized that With or without the money, I think Nandala is the worst leader I have ever seen. If Nandala ever gets into power, people should go into exile. How do you stop your party Chairman from addressing the press? How do you run a party like a kiosk? - Hon. Ssemujju Nganda Hon. Nandala likes fighting, it's the one way he can supplement his flaws. - Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda.
Every FDC officer can address a conference, even when they are in the youth league. - Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda Is it the chairman who beat the journalists? - Ssemujju Nganda fires back to @NandalaMafabi on the Najjanankumbi incident.
The Forum for Democratic Change (Swahili: Jukwaa la Mabadiliko ya Kidemokrasia; FDC), founded on 16 December 2004, is the main opposition party in Uganda. The FDC was founded as an umbrella body called Reform Agenda, mostly for disenchanted former members and followers of President Yoweri Museveni's National Resistance Movement (NRM). Party president Kizza Besigye, formerly a close ally of Museveni, was a presidential candidate in 2001, 2006, 2011 and 2016 presidential elections.
In November 2012, Mugisha Muntu was elected as President of the FDC until November 2017 when he was defeated by Patrick Oboi Amuriat the current party President until 2022. FDC has been one of the greatest challengers to the NRM Party in the 2006, 2011, and 2016 presidential and parliamentary elections. Besigye was the party's presidential candidate, taking 37 per cent of the vote against Museveni's 59 per cent.
Besigye alleged fraud and rejected the result. In the general election of 23 February 2006, the party won 37 out of 289 elected seats. In the presidential election on the same date, Besigye won 37.4 per cent of the vote. In the 2011 election, the party performed worse with Besigye getting 26.01 per cent of the vote and the party winning 34 seats. Background The origins of the FDC are intertwined with the history of the ruling NRM led by President Museveni. The NRM through its military wing the National Resistance Army (NRA) fought a successful guerrilla war against the governments of Milton Obote and Tito Okello and came to power in Uganda in 1986.
