New Formation leader, Maj. Gen. (rtd) Mugisha Muntu is committed to prove to ‘some’ political actors that his political approach can cause regime change in the shortest time possible compared to two decades he spent in FDC fighting for recognition.
In the two decades before the former army commander relealised that he had irreconcilable differences with fellow party members, Muntu had faced stiff internal hostility generated by a section that subscribes to aggression as a means of removing Museveni’s 30year military rule.
Muntu on unaccountable number of times was branded a regime element whose mission was to fail FDC.
The resentment towards Muntu hinged on his calm character and openness on why his party (then) couldn’t take power because it lacked organizational capabilities.
Pragmatic as he is known, his honesty stirred anger among top shots of the party who only believe in Col. Kizza Besigye as the only hope of transition.
Only Muntu had the guts to gang up against one-man rule in FDC and challenged him twice in 2010 and 2015 when FDC was choosing a Presidential Candidate.
Unfortunately, he never won any election against Besigye, but his efforts to unseat the FDC god father paved way for a democratic dispensation within the party although the bigger group remained hostile to those loyal to Muntu.
Until, 2018, Muntu realized that his aspirations couldn’t be fulfilled in an environment in which his leadership style continued to be suffocated.
Alliance for National Transformation
When Muntu made a huge pronouncement last year that he was leaving FDC, he briefly convened a news conference at Africana Hotel and announced the birth of New Formation which many believed would be his new political party.
But the former Army together with a a well organized clique of moderates began preparing for the formation of a new party dubbed Alliance for National Transformation.
Last week it was cleared by the regulator- Electoral Commission after presenting signatories of guarantors from across the country.
“We are waiting for when it will be gazetted and we launch it together with a policy plan,” Muntu said while appearing on Radio One on Monday evening.
Asked on the basis of the name, Muntu said the Alliance is a representation of all people who need a genuine Transformation countrywide.
“It will be a party for those seeking economic, political and social transformation not a mere change of government,” muntu said.
“We are talking of an alliance within a party, not an alliance seeking election victory,” he added.
Muntu, explained that it is politically suicidal for a political party to be be identified for what it is fighting against.
An example is his former party FDC which was identified for taking Museveni out of power, which until todate the Najjanankumbi based establishment is yet to achieve.
“Museveni shouldn’t be a reference point for our identity,” he said.
Asked what mechanism he will employ which he never used while in the FDC, Muntu said, “it is a matter of time.”
He insisted that FDC failed to accommodate two approaches which was feasible but because of some reason, the party leadership chose to push him and his team to edge.
He reiterated that his belief is organizational capabilities and building of structures. “That is the only way a political party gets support to take national leadership.”
He concluded that since he was a new party, he must prove wrong his critics that are opposed to his tactics.
