PRESS RELEASE ON 9TH AUGUST 2023 FROM THE SPECIAL FDC ELDERS COMMITTEE (SEC).

PRESS RELEASE ON 9TH AUGUST 2023 FROM THE SPECIAL FDC ELDERS COMMITTEE (SEC).

PRESS RELEASE ON 9TH AUGUST 2023 FROM THE SPECIAL FDC ELDERS COMMITTEE (SEC).
This release is titled “Honorables Besigye, Amuriat and Mafabi will still be needed when rebuilding FDC”.

1.0 Introduction

1.1 Good morning Honourable Members of the Press. We salute you for the great struggles you are engaged in to become the fourth Estate in Uganda’s Governance system.

1.2 The purpose of this press release is four fold:

(a) To remind you the press, of the Terms of Reference (TOR) which our SEC was requested to concentrate on during our investigations;
(b) To respond to some of the allegations which some of the Senior FDC Leaders have made against SEC;
(c) To reiterate some of the recommendations we proposed to make FDC stronger in the future, particularly in the next 30 months (September 2023 to December 2025) before the next fraudulent general elections in January 2026.
(d) To remind Ugandans that political liars and fraudsters are found in and political parties in Uganda.

1.3 This release is our clarion call and humble appeal to all FDC Leaders in different corners of Uganda to stop washing our political underwear in the public and confusing innocent members of the Party in Uganda’s 72,000 villages. It is based on the FDC’s motto. In other words, we should rise above our individual interests, religious beliefs and ethnic groups because we are one people who belong to one Country.

1.4 As is already known, on Friday 28th July 2023, five members of the SEC formally presented our 19 page Report to the FDC National Council Meeting here in the FDC Headquarters. We were Frank Nabwiso (the Chairperson, from Busoga Sub-Region), Tiko Martha Ondoga (from West Nile Sub-region), Emusu Joel Ediegu (from Teso Sub-Region) and Mukalazi Kibuka and Robinson Kasozi (from Buganda). The 6th member, Stanley Tugume Katembeya (from Ankole Sub-Reion and Vice-Chairperson of our Committee) resigned from the Committee after participating in the formulation of the first draft of the Report, while Charles Makaru (from Kanungu) did not attend any meeting for unknown reasons.

1.5 Hon. Amuriat (the Current FDC Party President) who officially appointed us revealed that our names were approved by the FDC National Executive Committee of the Party. We therefore, got the impression that we were appointed on merit, and not as sycophants to some of the current FDC Leaders.
2.0 Our Terms of Reference.

2.1 Please note the eight (8) TOR we were directed to focus on. In summary, we were asked to help in reconciling the aggrieved parties in FDC but not to create more divisions among them. TOR no.6 gave us 10 days to carry out our investigations and make appropriate recommendations to enable the party to move forward more peacefully and reasonably. So, those who believe that we did shoddy work can still ask for another Committee to satisfy their assertions.

2.2 We are also aware that even World Bank Reports have been criticized by different scholars and ordinary analysts. So, our Report is not perfect and none of us who wrote it is perfect.

3.0 Some allegations made against us.

3.1 The first one is that we doctored the Report in favour of Hon. Nathan James Nandala Mafabi or that he dictated to us what we should write about him. This allegation came from some newspapers, allegedly from Hon. Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda, Hon. Erias Lukwago and Doreen Nyanjura (the MP for Kira Municipality,the Lord Mayor of Kampala and Deputy Lord Mayor of Kampala respectively). While they are entitled to their opinions about us, it is still their responsibility to prove why we don’t have independent minds.

3.2 Dr. Kizza Besigye the first President of the Party described our Report as “not being worth the paper it was written on”. He further asserted that:

(a) he gave us the serial numbers of the new money notes of shs 300,000,000/= which Hon. Mafabi asked him to keep in his house for FDC election agents;
(b) that “we did not resolve the unresolved dirty money issue”
( c) that we did not inquire into the current accounts and financial records using forensic methods;
(d) that in Hon. Mafabi’s statements to us, he never mentioned the shs 280,000,000/= which he gave to Hon. Amuriat.
(e ) that “we selectively and inaccurately recorded” what he told us.

3.3 In our response the TOR advised us not to engage in witch hunting games. If Hon. Mafabi had hidden the shs 300,000,000/= elsewhere, Dr. Besigye would not have known about it, so this saga would not have emerged. Additionally, Dr. Besigye never disclosed to us the name of his informer about the “dirty money” so we could not interrogate such a person whereas Hon. Amuriat admitted to us that he indeed obtained shs 280,000,000/= from Hon. Mafabi for election agents.

On the other hand, Hon. Mafabi was authorized to borrow money for the Party and he complied, he also tendered some bank papers which showed that he withdrew money from his own Bank account in Stanbic Kyambogo Branch to use in the Party elections while Dr. Besigye did not prove to us that that money came from Sate House. In any case, the serial numbers on the new notes which he recorded still did not confirm to us that the money was from State House and the notes which Dr. Besigye received was not the same he gave back to the FDC Headquarters. It should also be noted that new money notes given to State House can still end up in Commercial Banks when paying suppliers or other clients.

4.0 The other ills we identified.
We observed that Dr. Besigye’s refusal to campaign for Amuriat disadvantaged other FDC candidates but he did not comment on that matter. Nor did he respond to our observations on the need for the Party to continue participating in elections while simultaneously organizing activities to pressurize Government to make political and socio-economic reforms.
He also did not say anything about the growing disagreement between Katonga and Najjanankumbi.
5.0 Our Recommendations to make FDC Stronger.

We made 8 recommendations to help the Party grow. We focused on the need for reconciliation, tolerance, grooming young leaders, amendment of the FDC Constitution, development of party alliances in Uganda, writing a book on the history of FDC and the challenges of managing opposition parties in Africa and Uganda. On the other hand, Dr. Besigye’s only recommendation to the Party is carrying out a forensic investigation on money from hostile sources.

Signed
Dr. Frank Nabwiso
CHAIRPERSON OF THE SPECIAL ELDERS COMMITTEE (SEC)

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