{UAH} Hon Nandala MafabI"s scheme to form New Political Party with Hon Mike Mukula and Gilbert Bukenya

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Category: Politics News

Published on 31 January 2014

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Hon Nandala Mafabi’s scheme to form New Political Party with Hon Mike Mukula and Gilbert Bukenya take Shape as Mugisha Muntu finally appoints Wafula Ogguttu as the New Leader of Opposition

By Fred Daka Kamwada

After hesitating, dillydallying and yawning for several months, the President of the Forum for Democratic Change Maj Gen (Rtd) Mugisha Muntu has finally made the brave decision of replacing Hon Nandala Mafabi as the Leader of Opposition in Parliament with Hon Wafula Ogguttu.

The decision came after a long spell of suspense which started last year when the two men (united by their opposition to President Museveni) started bickering in public for the presidency of the party.

The post of Leader of Opposition is very juicy and regarded at the level of a cabinet minister. The LOP is entitled to a VIP vehicle with police guards and a hefty package as per diem. It’s no wonder that Hon Nandala has been involved in some sort of power struggles with his party colleagues. 

Prior to his appointment as LOP, Mafabi had contested as Speaker for the Ugandan parliament but was beaten by Hon Rebecca kadaga. He then tried to contest as the FDC party President but was again beaten to the presidency by Mugisha Muntu sparking another wave of power struggles within Uganda’s biggest opposition party.

But it’s worth noting that Muntu had defeated Mafabi for the party presidency in a controversial election that was held at Nambole by the FDC party delegates. The post had been left vacant when the former party President Col Kiiza Besigye opted to step down before the expiry of his term.

 Gen Muntu’s victory over Nandala led to chaos as a section of the Nandala loyalists vowed to either defect to NRM or form a new party.

Matters got heated late last year when Nandala Mafabi almost succeeded in calling for ‘a rematch’ with Muntu for the FDC party Presidency, but his calls were strongly resisted by the national executive committee of the party.

The party has since been divided with many party members loyal to Hon Nandala defecting to NRM; one of the prominent Mafabi loyalists was Maj Rtd Major Rubaramira Ruranga who is now enjoying his prodigal son status within the NRM camp.

News of Mafabi’s removal from the LOP post has been a daily item since last year when it was rumored that Hon Alice Alaso was to replace him as the new LOP.

Gen Muntu however denied the allegations by asserting that Mafabi’s position as the LOP was safe.  

Ambitious Mafabi

We have been reliably informed that the FDC leadership got wind of Mafabi’s desire to form a political party and started mooting ways to get rid of him.  Some members of the party tried to prevail on the party leadership to expel Mafabi but Kiiza Besigye resisted their calls.

Late last year, things got worse when the rift between Mafabi and Muntu spread like wildfire in the national media prompting rumors that Mafabi was on the verge of losing his post as LOP.

The power struggles got personal and Mugisha Muntu came out to prove who had more powers when he said that he was the only person with the mandate to decide whether Hon Nandala Mafabi could be demoted or retained as Leader of Opposition (LOP) in Parliament.

Muntu later gave 24^th January2014 as the day to make the decision to either retain or drop Mafabi, but nothing happened when the day came last week. We have been told that Muntu has been weighing the repercussions of dropping Mafabi with fear that the party might collapse completely if he fires the man from Sironko.

It has also been revealed that the party is planning to deploy Mafabi in an alternative position rumored to be very powerful. This comes after the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the FDC Party proposed to offer Mafabi an alternative post of Shadow Finance Minister last year.

Our sources recently got information that the party was planning to appoint Mafabi as the new Secretary General, replacing Hon Alice Alaso in that position, a decision which might antagonize the party even further.

But on the other hand Mafabi is planning to find his way out of the party by creating a new political party: it’s widely believed that he has already formed a chain of leadership structure for the party with the view of starting a new political life. 

It’s rumored that Mafabi is set to form the new party with some strong but disenchanted cadres of the NRM that include the former Vice President Prof Gilbert Bukenya And Hon Mike Mukula.

Unconfirmed reports have it that the trios has been having marathon meetings which insiders assume to be attempts to form a new political front to challenge president Museveni in the fast coming 2016 elections.

It is believed that the party might evolve into some form of coalition and then invite other reputable leaders to join them. It’s clear that Mafabi’s ambitions for the Ugandan presidency are still unblemished.

Background

In 2011, FDC party President Col Rtd Kizza Besigye appointed Nandala Mafabi as the new Leader of Opposition in Parliament. Mafabi, who until then had been Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and a Member of Parliament for Budadiri North constituency.

Mr Mafabi replaced Professor Ogenga Latigo who lost his parliamentary seat in Agago constituency during the 2011 general elections.

As PAC Chairman, Mafabi beat President Museveni, URA boss Allen Kagina, and IGP Kale Kayihura to take the African Challenge Foundation award for fighting corruption. He however, contested on the post of Speaker only to lose to Rebecca Kadaga in the NRM studded Parliament.

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Gwokto La'Kitgum

"Even a small dog can piss on a tall Building", Jim Hightower