{UAH} Muntu,Ekanya Trash Defiance, Court Action

RED PEPPER

Tuesday, March 01 2016

Muntu,Ekanya Trash Defiance, Court Action

 

REBELLION

 

Four-time Presidential hopeful, Col. Kizza Besigye, is facing a revolt from his own radical party members including Gen. Mugisha Muntu.

 

We have learnt that the leaders are defying Court action seeking to challenge the election results in which their flag bearer lost to NRM chairman President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni. Until now, Besigye has been put under 24 hour police surveillance at his palatial home in Kasangati following a dossier he authored challenging the results and appealing to all Ugandans particularly the youth to rise against the state and reclaim their future from the hands of the "rogue regime". Since then, his sympathisers have taken to social media expressing their distress on how the police has violated Besigye's rights amidst his intentions of filing an application in the Supreme Court contesting results saying he was cheated. Besigye has for a number of times come under the spotlight as a politician fond of making contradictory statements which haunt him as his rivals tend to cling on them to denounce his stance as the powerful opposition leader in the land. In 2011, he vowed never to seek any court redress in case he ever loses an election (then) and in the future because Courts are a subject of appointment of "Mr. Museveni who will work to serve his interests."

 

He therefore declared to "use the peoples' court" through civil disobedience. To very many peoples' consternation, Besigye has paraded a number of city lawyers who will represent him in Court as he takes on the Electoral Commission, government and the ruling party. Among others he will represented by Ernest Kalibala, Ladislaus Rwakafuzi and others. Besigye remains under House Arrest as he is feared to be plotting episodes of violence in Kamplal and other parts of Uganda.

 

Internal Revolt

 

Political analysts have been engaging FDC 'propagandists' who have made it a norm of circulating distorted electoral figures and information averring that their candidate won the election with 62% while his nemesis garnered the remaining votes. This was in relation to the foiled news conference in which Besigye together with other FDC leaders intended to announce him as a winner despite the fact that the polling exercise was still ongoing in some parts of Kampala and Wakiso districts. Since then, ruling party apologists have published results indicating that Besigye won in 14 districts of the country while Museveni swept 98. NRM managed to successfully field 238 MPs while FDC MPs reduced to 36. In some parts of the country, FDC never fronted any local government candidate and thus questions are raised of how Besigye could win and his MPs not only lost but their number waned. A highly source intimated to us last night that key FDC leaders have since defied Besigye's Court action and defiance campaign but rather advocate for a robust strategy of building grass root support which they believe is key in winning an election. While appearing on local TV NBS soon after declaration of results, FDC President, Gen. Mugisha Muntu, a well known advocate of "organisational capabilities" insisted that defiance will not lead FDC to power but grass root mobilisation. Muntu and Besigye have for a long time now had a silent war over which strategy works better for the party between activism and mobilisation. Whereas Muntu has severely been criticised for exercising a "headmasters" style of politics, he argued that it is only credential in attaining mass support. To prove his point, Muntu said that at the time of taking office, FDC failed to raise delegates from all districts of the country and the number that voted in 2012 was 700 but during his tenure, he has managed to mobilise 1046 delegates implying that FDC is visible at grass root. The latest to weigh in on Muntu's position is none other than Tororo County MP flop, Geoffrey Ekanya also Party Treasurer General who last year headed Besigye's campaign Task Force as he vied for FDC flag bearer.

 

Ekanya, a renowned mobiliser, has advised that the Party needs to swing its infrastructure into building structures, "short of that FDC will be in opposition for the rest of its political life." Ekanya lost his MP seat and he greatly attributes the loss to inadequate time to mobilise at the local level. Besigye's candidature was denounced by a couple of FDC MPs who felt it was unfair for him to contest having lost three times in the previous elections arguing that it was a moment for a new face with new ideas to emerge and tussle it out with Museveni.