Otunnu abandons IPC, rallies Ugandans to join movement for change

Uganda People’s Congress president Olara Otunnu on Monday appealed to all Ugandans to embrace the idea of what he called a National Social Movement to ‘champion fight for democracy’ in the country.

Mr Otunnu was speaking at a press conference at Christ the King Church in Kampala where he officially declared the exit of UPC from the Inter-Party Cooperation(IPC).

The former UN diplomat said the country is yearning for a change of regime and yet the current electoral process being organised on Mr Museveni’s terms is out to lead to massive fraud and rigging of elections to maintain the status quo.

He thus said Uganda’s historic moment to get a new regime calls for a singular response – building a national social movement that will insist, among other demands, on genuine free and fair elections, and truth-telling and accountability.

“Together we must now begin to chart a new path leading to a new Uganda, with a new national compact,” he said.
Mr Otunnu said national social movement aims to bring together democracy-seeking political parties, civil society, religious organisations, the business community, workers, pressure groups, youth and women organisations.

OTUNNU'S STATEMENT IN FULL

My fellow Ugandans, today I address you on the all-important issue and theme of: Free and fair elections -- A fork in the road.
Our country is engaged in a historic struggle to regain our freedom, dignity and human rights. In this struggle, there are times when we have to make very tough choices. In so doing, we must retain our resolve and clarity of purpose.
Today, we are at such a moment. As you know, we in Uganda Peoples Congress (UPC) have been engaged in a difficult dialogue, one of great import to the country, with our Inter-Party Cooperation (IPC) partners.
There are three major concerns that we have placed before our IPC partners.

Identity and method of work of IPC

The first issue concerns the identity and method of work of IPC. IPC is not a new political party that has emerged on the political landscape. Neither is it a merger of the political parties that constitute it. We must therefore do everything to avoid giving this erroneous impression when presenting IPC to the electorate.

IPC is an umbrella of independent political parties, with distinct ideological orientations, and autonomous national and local structures.

We in UPC believe that strong, well-defined and firmly rooted political parties are the best pillars for building and guaranteeing democracy in Uganda. We want to see political parties flourish, not wither.
Moreover, in offering an alternative to the NRM modus operandi for governance, it is particularly incumbent on us in IPC to set a clear above-board example of transparent and democratic practice in our activities. Over a period of time, we have shared with our IPC partners our specific concerns in this respect.

Truth-telling and accountability

The second issue of great concern to us relates to truth-telling and accountability. There have been major traumatic episodes in our recent history. I have in mind particularly the massacre of 33 unarmed demonstrators in the streets of Kampala on 10 & 11 September, 2009; atrocities committed during the war in the Luwero triangle (1981-1985); the massacre of Muslims in Mbarara (1979); the Ombachi massacre in West Nile (1981); and the genocide committed in northern Uganda (1986-2008).

These episodes remain deep and festering wounds on the side of Uganda’s body politic. UPC has insisted that we must undertake independent investigations about what happened in each of these cases and assign responsibilities for the atrocities and crimes in question.

Our preoccupation is not retribution or revenge. Far from it. No amount of retribution can compensate for the unbelievable agony and suffering visited upon these communities. This is about reconciliation and healing in our land.
I want to see us, as a people, climb to the top of a certain hill - - the hill of reconciliation and forgiveness. There to embrace in humility and prayerful forgiveness. There to wipe off the tears of the communities that have long been hurting in silent, unacknowledged agony.