Beleaguered former Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) president Maj Gen Mugisha Muntu has expressed readiness to leave the party instead of creating a parallel force to destabilize the new leadership.
Muntu, who recently lost an election to Patrick Oboi Amuriat (POA) came under immense pressure from his supporters to partways with the powerful opposition party since the delegates discredited his political approach by not reelecting him.
Instead they entrusted the mantle with a man who subscribes to a confrontational method of politics.
Amuriat is a close ally of Dr Col Kizza Besigye who is worshiped by millions of party supporters.
And his open involvement in the party internal polls played a pivotal role in the victory of POA.
Speaking to a local weekly newspaper- Observer- Muntu ruled out a possibility of staying in the party to disintegrate it with his style of mobilisational capabilities.
Although majority FDC protagonists insist that defiance is the only channel to taking power, it’s superintendent has lost presidential polls 4 times.
This gives Muntu a high voice to re-echo that the reason NRM consistently defeats them is because it built institutions on the grass root.
“If we choose to stay within the party, then we will not
carry out parallel activities. I don’t operate like that. I
can’t act the way they were acting,” Muntu said.
Since his election in 2012 until 2017, Muntu had failed to consolidate his leadership because of the turbulence covertly generated by his predecessor by establishing a parallel arm at Katonga Road in Kampala that undermined the mainstream party.
“Those colleagues fought me for five years. If I find
that there is no way we can do activities which are
different from what they want to be done, then we will
have to separate ways so that they don’t use me as an
excuse. I don’t want to be seen as if I’m undermining
the efforts of a leader. I would rather operate from
the outside,” a principled Muntu further told The Observer
In his reign as FDC president, the former army chief had powers to sack, reprimand or or use a high hand to suffocate tge group which was deemed as frustrating his political activities but he chose to allow two methods operate with one aim of ending 30 year NRM rule.
” In the last five years, it has been tough trying to hold the different groups,” Muntu confessed.
Adding that: “We must work closely with those who are in the party. If we decide to remain in, there must be a lot of
efforts to try and calm down those who don’t believe in
the decision that was taken either way. There must be
a lot of efforts to ensure that we manage the
aftermath.”
He maintains that there is still anxiety in the party particularly his supporters are still angry and there suggests that people need to cool off so that if he decides to take a decision he does it out of clear analysis not anger.