While forming Forum for Democratic Party (FDC), the very many leaders who broke away from NRM to join Col Kizza Besigye in December 2004, thought it would be a smooth ride to dislodge their former master Gen. Yoweri Museveni.
Two decades later, the FDC is arguably losing ground, with accusations and counter accusations of it’s top leadership trading the instruments of power for colossal sums of money from the regime.
The amount in question is shs 16 billion, which the FDC top shots; president Patrick Oboi Amuriat, secretary general Nathan Nandala Mafabi and the architect of the deal Geoffrey Ekanya allegedly picked from Gen. Museveni.
The money reportedly financed the FDC elections in 2021.
This allegation has sparked off a mega rift in the party pitting Col Besigye’s camp better known as Katonga against the mainstream group stationed at Najjanakumbi.
TrumpetNews, has previously reported extensively about this major rift.
Mafabi and Amuriat’s ordeal started when they allegedly gifted the party founder Besigye with shs 400 million whose source he queried before rejecting the money.
Against that backdrop, the Mafabi group has been working clandestinely to block Katonga from accessing the party.
Besigye and his loyalists tasked Mafabi to explain the source of the money he used to fund FDC campaigns for all flag bearers in 2021, he said had acquired a loan but declined to mention where he got it from.
As the party prepares for internal elections, Besigye’s group is mobilizing to vote Mafabi and his cohort out of FDC.
But the man from Bugisu is hell bent on retaining his seat.
He has since deployed bouncers (Kanyamas) to beef up security at Najjanankumbi.
‘We are all hungry’
In Mafabi’s camp, there is Jack Sabiiti, a Mukiga by tribe. He is former Rukiga County MP who lost election many times and in 2021 following an overwhelming defeat he announced his exit from active elective politics.
Sabiiti is a close associate of Mafabi dating from way back when the latter contested for party president in 2012. Sabiiti was one of the chief campaigners.
Sabiiti, whose tribe is known for not mincing their words maligned Gen Mugisha Muntu on many occasions.
In this latest saga that is pushing FDC to the edge- politically, Sabiiti according to insiders told Katonga camp to join Najjanankumbi in the ‘eating spree’ because all FDC members are hungry.
“Please tell Besigye to come and we all eat. Everyone is hungry,” Sabiiti is quoted to have requested NEC members who are loyal to Besigye.
Sabiiti, as a founding member of the once strongest opposition party, he invested a lot of resources, time and energy into the struggle.
Many of the FDC founding members have since quit the party, some rejoined the NRM while others collaborate with the regime clandestinely.
This was after the regime crippled them financially rendering them beggars.