{UAH} Why We Have Left and Why We Should Hope-MUNTUNYERA

Below is Gen Muntu's full statement;

Why We Have Left and Why We Should Hope

Fellow Ugandans and former FDC colleagues,
Greetings. 

I write to you today, in order to give you a detailed report of what a number of us have been doing since the beginning of the year. It is my hope that this report shall enable you to understand fully, our actions, intentions and hope for the future. 
Background:

During the party presidential elections held last year, it was clear that there were two emerging views about the future of the party: the first was that of defiance. Those that held this view felt that the best way forward was to engage in sustained civil disobedience and other such activities with the end goal of 'reclaiming our victory' from Gen. Museveni, consolidating the 'People's government' as constituted by some party leaders and like-minded opposition members and ousting the regime by popular protests. The focus here, was perhaps best captured by our now party president Patrick Oboi Amuriat when he declared, 'Under my leadership, there will only be one party strategy: defiance'.

The second view, which I championed, was that without properly constituted party structures, we could not achieve much. We believed that our focus should be on building grassroot structures such that whether we chose to engage in civil disobedience or participated in electoral processes, we would have the capacity to not only mobilise people to vote nationwide, but also field strong candidates right from LC1 level and be able to protect our votes. In the event that we were to engage in civil disobedience, our view was that we should have party structures in place to not only hold these activities across the entire country, but also sustain them over a long period of time. A few protests in Kampala and other strongholds might make it to the evening news, but they will not deliver the change we need.

When the party delegates gathered to vote, the majority chose the defiance agenda. I have said before and will restate today that the elections were legitimate and my brother Amuriat was the rightful winner of this contest. I have never and will never attempt to discredit his victory or contest it in any way, shape or form.

However, the implication of this victory, was that those of us who feel very strongly that the party should be focused on a different path were faced with two choices: we could either engage in disruptive politicking within the party, with the view of compromising the new leadership's agenda or we could engage in constructive consultations with them with the view of finding out if there is space for us to not just exist within the party, but also continue to do the things we believe should be done (without appearing to counter the leadership). Those of you who have interacted with me know that I am uncompromising when it comes to ethical practice; I do not believe in doing things behind people's backs and if the choice before me is to do so for political gain or avoid it and risk political loss, I will always choose the latter.

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