The Party Chairman, Amba. Wasswa Biriggwa
The Peoples President,
The Leader of Minority,
Hon. Members of Parliament,
The FDC National Leadership,
Eminent Persons,
Members of this distinguished National Council,
Fellow comrades of this great party,
Invited guests,
Ladies and gentlemen.

I welcome you all to Najjanankumbi; the home of FDC. I want to thank you for making time to participate in this Special National Council meeting which is the second top most organ of the party.

It is slightly more than one year since I took office on the 1st December last year and quite obviously a lot has happened since then. This being the very first National Council since my election, allow me to most heartily thank you for the confidence you put in me by electing me your third President. I thank you very much and promise to be President for all.

This Council meeting comes at a time when our party has weathered a number of political storms which include the departure of some of our former colleagues from the party. The emergence of political opportunist hired by the junta to attack us with the intention of annihilating our party and the dictator we have actively engaged in our 14 years of our existence is forcefully frustrating our political activities across the country by using partisan elements within the military and police.

To those who have decided to go leaving 14 years of political investment in the FDC we wish them luck wherever they choose to go. Our conscience is very clear considering that every opportunity was offered to them to highlight issues they felt were not right with the party. But for reasons best known to themselves, they decided to leave.
Despite this we will always welcome them if they so wished to return.

All I know is that although there are a few comrades who have fallen by the wayside; the struggle we are engaged in; founded on the blood and sweat of our brothers and sisters, some of whom have paid the ultimate price, will never end in failure but victory.

I wish to remind you that Mr. Museveni has from the past promised to have no parties in the opposition by the next election, but I can assure you that your party is in safe hands and that is what is giving the dictator sleepless nights.

I can only be eternally grateful to you all for your resilience and hard work that has kept this party deeply rooted in the population. I take this opportunity to say to our detractors that FDC is not for sale, not for exchange for anything, and that we the members of the party are not bothered by threats and will not be intimidated. Ours is a people centered struggle, it is power to the people and we are the Super Power of Uganda politics.

Comrades, Mr. Chairman, amidst criticism, we had to take the bold decision to deliberately make changes to the Leadership in Parliament and in NEC in order to complete a functional trinity between the Party, Parliament and the Peoples Government Leaderships. I can report to you today with confidence that this process is complete and we are already working as one team to oust the dictator.

In this conference, the Secretary General will present to you the reconstituted Standing Committees and NEC replacements for your approval. Your decisions are critical to the running of the party because at the moment we are operating below capacity.

I bring to your attention attempts by various groups at advancing dialogue as a way to address the political question of Uganda. As a party we support principled dialogue, but not dialogue for the sake of it. All of these attempts so far have yielded nothing because our tormentor doesn’t have interest in principled dialogue at all. By employing tricks he thinks we will fall into his trap, but he has miserably failed. The latest is by IPOD which has planned a Summit to take place on 12th December, 2018 in Kampala.

We have requested for more time to allow us have internal constructive engagements to consider any proposals before signing up to any agreement. We also feel disappointed that whereas there are key national issues including electoral reforms that were previously discussed these have never been concluded due to reluctance by Mr. Museveni’s NRM administration to pursue agreements. At the same time we believe that for any constructive dialogue to take place, this should happen in an environment where oppression against the FDC and other political parties by the dictatorship has stopped. We will never be involved in any dialogue intended to glorify a group that intends to keep us in bondage forever.

Comrades in the struggle, Mr. Chairman the year ahead is going to be tough and business packed and I encourage you to brace yourselves for the challenges that come with such tasks. The building of structures from the grassroots upwards must be concluded before the closure of next calendar year. This should pave way for a Delegates Conference in early 2020 where we expect internal elections for all positions.

Meanwhile I encourage you to help with early identification of candidates in preparation for the forthcoming 2021 elections if we get there as a country. We will hopefully participate in it. I also request that you spend some time planning and executing activities intended not only to recruit new members and retain those who are already part of us, but also actions that can guarantee regime change. I expect activism to form center stage of our political operations. In doing this we shall simply be fulfilling our obligation of preparing and handing over a better country to those who to come after us.

As I conclude I wish to thank the National Executive committee that has offered valuable guidance to me in the day to day running of our party. I also thank the Peoples Government for rekindling the spirit of activism in the party by fronting the non-violent struggle.

I wish to congratulate your Excellency Chairman and the National Secretariat for arranging yet another National Council. May this National Council bring renewed energy and hope to us all. May it bring fresh determination for our liberation and that of our country men and women. May our strong resolutions be the fuel that will propel our liberation struggle forward. And may the spirit of One Uganda, One People continue to guide our actions as a party.

Thank you.
God bless you all.
Merry X- Mass & Happy New Year
For God and my Country.
One Uganda, One People.

Patrick Oboi Amuriat,
PARTY PRESIDENT.
6th December 2018