Ssemujju, Lukwago trying to take FDC to NUP – Nandala

Embattled Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) secretary general Nathan Nandala Mafabi has fired back at a section of the party saying that he is the one trying to save the party against their efforts to merge it with the National Unity Platform, now the leading opposition political party.

Party spokesperson and Kira Municipality MP Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda accuses Nandala and party president Patrick Amuriat Oboi of trying to sell FDC to the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) under President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni.

According to Ssemujju, Nandala and his allies brought billions of shillings into the party during the 2021 elections and refused to disclose its source. He said it was the money that was used to make large purchases including cars from Cooper Motors that were used in the 2021 general elections.

“The party president and the secretary general have not explained to the satisfaction of their known loyalists and new subscribers the source of the money. But unfortunately for them, FDC is made up of many people, they all must be satisfied that the money didn’t come from Museveni like it is believed,” said Semujju at a consultative meeting at Nsambya Sharing Hall attended by over 100 senior party leaders from across the country.    

However, speaking on the phone from Kenya’s capital Nairobi, Nandala said Semujju and others like Kampala City Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago want to sink the party by causing unnecessary brawls. Nandala said during the recently concluded elections, the duo did not campaign for FDC candidates because they had an understanding of NUP.  

“These are the people who want this party to go down such that NUP because for Kampala elections Nganda and Lukwago never campaigned for any candidate of FDC, they had a memorandum of understanding with NUP. That’s why you see everybody in FDC lost elections but for them they won. Why? Because they want to take this party to NUP. In short, they want to take this party to NUP,” said Nandala.

Nandala also wondered why Ssemujju is making a fuss over the funding for the 2021 campaigns since he has been funding previous FDC elections without any queries. He wondered why they are rising now when someone other than the four-time presidential candidate Dr Kizza Besigye is holding the FDC flag. He also said that even the said vehicles were paid for over some time not by single deposit as alleged. 

“If you’re asking about us buying vehicles what is wrong with us purchasing equipment to help in an election? We have been funding candidates, it is because the other people are so selfish whenever they get money they want…Like for vehicles, we entered an agreement with the supplier we have been paying over a period and that is when I saw that Ssemujju is not really a leader, he’s a member of the working committee, a member of NEC and he knows what we have been involved

Nandala said that if anything, it is Semujju and Lukwago who should be questioned on the source of their funds arguing that the duo used a lot of money for their re-election in 2021 yet they don’t have any known successful businesses. He says that the two could be the real wrong agents getting money from the state.   

“Ssemujju and Lukwago had very big billboards in Kampala which cost over Shs 1 billion each. Tell me which kiosk they have which sells airtime. Tell me, have you ever heard that this is a kiosk for Ssemujju, this is a kiosk for Lukwago? Where did they get those billions which they put in adverts, forget about other money. I think these are the people who get money from unknown sources like they say are the ones who assume everyone gets from the state,” added Nandala.

The controversial money, although its source is not known, is said to have come from President Museveni to lure the FDC to join the NRM. Semujju further accused Nandala and the party president Amuriat Oboi of pushing for an election before fulfilling preceding processes such as updating the voter’s register. 

Semujju said that he’s aware that agents of the NRM are currently compiling dubious registers of delegates such that when the delegates’ conference sits, the people loyal to the NRM are voted into power.  However, in reaction, Nandala said that if he were to sell FDC to Museveni, he would have done it even now before the elections because he still holds a position in the party. 

He however added that no one can take with them the structures of the party even if they crossed to NRM or another party they would go alone. He referred to the example of former FDC vice chairman Central Joyce Sebuggwwo whose departure to the NRM didn’t affect the structure and operations of the FDC not even in Buganda.

Efforts to speak to Amuriat were futile as he didn’t return calls and messages to his known number. However, in a recent interview about the same matter, he told The Observer that he wouldn’t want to go into discussing the matter because there is already a party-appointed committee tasked with investigating all the claims to find a lasting solution.   

“There is an ongoing investigation by an elders’ reconciliation committee appointed by the national council on the matter of disharmony in the party. Anyone with useful information has the liberty to approach the committee. The FDC leadership has chosen not to respond to heresy. We want the committee to do its work without its decision being pre-empted by media scrutiny. My leadership will implement the committee recommendations,” Amuriat said. 

Party leaders are also questioning how Nandala spends the money that FDC receives from the government courtesy of its members of parliament. Of the Shs 35 billion that the Electoral Commission gives parties with representation in parliament, FDC receives close to Shs 2 billion every year.