How Eala contest has reopened old FDC wounds

After elections to select FDC’s flag bearer for elections to the East African Legislative Assembly (Eala), the party’s working committee convened a series of crisis meetings at its Najjanakumbi headquarters to devise a strategy of rescuing the party from a looming crisis.

FDC was keen to avoid a repeat of the 2012 mess when they missed out on Eala nominations amid squabbles between FDC on one hand and NRM and other Opposition parties on the other. The party ultimately lost the case in the East African Court of Justice.

The working committee is a nucleus organ of the party composed of top management and is charged with handling the day-to-day affairs of the party.

During one of the meetings, secretary general Nandala Mafabi made an address on Eala rules and said he had interfaced with Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga and Leader of Opposition in Parliament Winfred Kiiza where it was agreed that FDC had the option of fielding two candidates.

Resolutions of that working committee meeting that this newspaper has seen indicate that it agreed to nominate two candidates, pending the release of definitive guidelines that would rule on whether FDC would field either one or two candidates.

“The secretary general should write a letter sending the names of the two candidates [Ms Ebi and Ms Turinawe]. The decision to send the two names was based on the fact that up to the time of nominations, the party had not received guidelines on Eala elections from Parliament,” reads minutes of the resolutions.

The working committee, however, further resolved that one of the candidates [the runner-up] would withdraw if it was later agreed that the party would only stand a chance in the elections if it nominated only one candidate.

“…in the event that guidelines came out after sending the two party candidates which required the party to submit one candidate, the party would then work backwards and retain only one candidate,” the working committee resolved.

Following one such crisis meeting, Mr Mafabi wrote a letter nominating both Ms Florence Ibi Ekwau, the winner of the election, and Ms Ingrid Turinawe, the runner-up. Mr Mafabi’s letter ruffled feathers since all and sundry knew that the elections had been convened to elect one candidate.

Rattled by the commotion triggered by Mr Mafabi’s letter, insiders say Gen Muntu reached out to trusted party lieutenants and it was decided that another working committee meeting convenes on Monday to definitively resolve the issue of nominations to Eala. That meeting sealed the final nail in Ms Turinawe’s Eala hopes.

But even after deciding that Ms Turinawe would be withdrawn from the race, Gen Muntu was left bewildered after it emerged that it’s only the secretary general or deputy who can withdraw a candidate from the race.
With Mr Mafabi, the secretary general, unavailable and his deputy Harold Kaija playing hide and seek, Gen Muntu was left with no option but to take a radical decision.

Ultimately, Gen Muntu decided to write the letter himself and withdrew it minutes later after learning that he had no authority to withdraw a candidate. In writing the second letter, Gen Muntu exposed himself to ridicule in cyber space.
On social media, the battle raged between Mr Mafabi’s supporters who back the decision to front Ms Turinawe and Gen Muntu’s supporters who insist that the party can only front one candidate.

FDC spokesperson Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda admitted that there were “consultations” and “other considerations” that forced the party to abandon Ms Turinawe and front only Ms Ekwau.

“What I know which is factual is that the party management sat on Monday and because of the consultations that have been going on and other considerations, they decided to sponsor one candidate. There is confusion. That is why if I asked NRM why they are sponsoring six candidates, they do not know. There is a lot of confusion and I do not see us leaving court over Eala,” Mr Ssemujju said in an interview.

Though Mr Ssemujju did not divulge details of the consultations, this newspaper understands that when Gen Muntu met NRM secretary general Kasule Lumumba, it became apparent to him that FDC risked losing if it insisted on fielding two candidates.

FDC deputy president [eastern] Alice Alaso, who attended the working committee meeting that ruled that only one candidate be nominated, says Ms Turinawe agreed to voluntarily withdraw her candidature. It is a case of one word against the other as Ms Turinawe denies attending one such meeting, or even agreeing to withdraw.

“What we are dealing with is a question of honesty. The working committee instructed the secretary general that the process to withdraw Ingrid should commence immediately. Interestingly, she even committed to withdraw herself,” Ms Alaso indicated.

Ms Turinawe was in a bullish mood when she appeared at Parliament this week to solicit votes, saying she is never a “coward” who shies away from “struggles” and that she is ready to confront whoever stands in her way to proceed with her ambitions to be on the ballot come February 28.

She said the party will consider co-opting lawyers to help the president deal with complex legal issues.

“You know I have never been a coward. That’s why they call it a struggle. You can be fought by many. On this case, I think the party president was misled. I will not blame him,” Ms Ingrid said, insisting Gen Muntu has no authority to withdraw her.

At Parliament, Ms Turinawe was booed by some MPs over the defiance campaign that she is spearheading.

Keen watchers of events in FDC agree that the squabbles over the Eala elections are a spill over from the acrimonious November 2012 presidential election. Since that election, the Forum for Democratic Change has literally been swirling from one crisis to another.

With the next presidential election scheduled for November this year, campaigning is quietly taking shape and the race for the FDC ticket to the East African Legislative Assembly came as the perfect opportunity.