It has always been a tendency of FDC bigwigs including the founding father- Col Kizza Besigye not to account for money used in funding presidential campaigns.
The observation is documented in the Elders Committee Report which was presented to the National Council last Friday.
The report captures thoughts, opinions, allegations and information volunteered by a number of senior party officials interrogated over the allegations of receiving dirty money which threaten to split the institution.
The allegation of “dirty money” was raised by Col Besigye who alleged that he had credible information that party president and the secretary general received the money from the State during elections in 2021.
In his submission to the tribunal, Besigye maintained his position on the money but failed to table evidence to support his allegations.
“He appeared before the Committee on 6 th June 2023. He was asked to explain the root-cause of the disagreement between him and Hon. Mafabi. He stated that he had known Hon. Mafabi for over 20 years (since 2001) and had never had any personal disagreement with him. He further stressed that he had a cordial working relationship with Hon. Mafabi until around September 2021. What caused the disagreement stemmed from the fact that Hon. Mafabi asked Dr. Besigye to keep for him money which was to a tune of Uganda Shillings 500 million but later alone only 300 million that was delivered . Around the same period, Dr. Besigye was contacted by a source from State House saying there was some money received by some FDC Party leaders from State House. This made Dr. Besigye to cause a meeting with some of the leaders who were directly concerned about the matter but that meeting and other subsequent meetings did not yield results,” the report says in parts.
However, a couple of officials interviewed pinned Besigye on failing to provide source and accountability of funds he previously used in his presidential campaigns.
Jack Sabiiti, the former FDC treasurer general reaffirmed that position saying previously no official disclosed source of finding. He alleged that Besigye had ever received finances from people close President Museveni.
The current party deputy treasurer Wilberforce Kyambadde confirmed that there are some sources of funding to the Party that cannot be disclosed, and that it is not a requirement for all sources of funds
to be disclosed.
He asserted that the finances of the Party are currently being managed
well than previously and cited the example of 2016 where there were numerous complaints about how the money in the General Elections was misused.
“He, too, was disappointed by the way Dr. Besigye chose to discuss the “dirty money” matter in the National Council. In his opinion, the issue should have been handled by a few people at a higher level. He commended the appointment of the Elders’ Committee because it was a good step towards resolving the ongoing financial conflicts,” the report reads.
Kyambadde pointed out that in 2016 Dr. Besigye gave them a lot of money without disclosing its source.
“He further believes all the money that came into the Party in 2016 came from legitimate sources including three major instances i.e. 100,000 USD, 200,000 USD dollars and 400,000USD. He did not know, neither did he ask for the sources of the said funds. Similarly, he believes that the money which came into the Party in 2021 General Elections was from legitimate sources.”