Amuriat to invite Muntu for talks

Kampala. The incoming Forum for Democratic Change president, Mr Patrick Amuriat Oboi, has declared he will invite his closest challenger in the party’s presidential race Maj Gen Mugisha Muntu, for a reconciliation meeting.
“And all those who supported and campaigned for other candidates, I don’t condemn them because that was their right and choice, for now we need to come together and build FDC. I am ready to work with everyone irrespective of the differences,” Mr Amuriat told Daily Monitor in an interview in Kampala’s suburb of Ntinda on Sunday.

He said in the next two weeks, he will convene a meeting of all candidates with whom he contested to sort out the differences and build one front to remove the ruling NRM party from power and stop human rights abuse and bad governance.
Maj Gen Muntu, the outgoing FDC president lost to Mr Amuriat in the party’s presidential elections held last Saturday.
His camp yesterday said he would address the press today to announce his next move following his election defeat.

During the interview, Mr Amuriat dismissed claims that he is a Dr Kizza Besigye puppet who is firmly under the command and control of the FDC’s founding president who still wields immense influence in the party.
Although Dr Besigye left the FDC presidency in 2012, he was chosen as the party’s flag bearer in the 2016 general presidential elections after defeating the party’s sitting president, Maj Gen Muntu, in the party primaries.

Mr Amuriat said allegations of being a puppet are made by people who are incapable of understanding that Dr Besigye is a father figure who grooms and mentors leaders in FDC.
“I am not a stooge and I am not under any instruction from Dr Besigye and I did not even consult him when I took a decision to contest for the party presidency, he just got rumours from other people,” he said. The FDC president said he and Dr Besigye believe in a “defiance campaign” as a party strategy to remove the NRM government.

Daily Monitor could not reach Maj Gen Muntu for a response on whether he would work with his successor if Mr Amuriat invited him for the reconciliation meeting. Several calls to his cellular phone lines went unanswered.
However, FDC spokesperson Semujju Nganda, who was also the chairman of Gen Muntu’s campaign team, told Daily Monitor that all they are looking forward to is the bigger picture of what is happening within the party and beyond internal squabbles.

“We are not focusing on the small wars here; we are looking for the bigger war. As Semujju, I am ready to meet anyone, including the president and so does Muntu. Amuriat is a decent person and we wouldn’t hesitate to work with him,” Mr Semujju said.
On claims that Maj Gen Muntu was planning to form a splinter party, Mr Semujju said: “Tomorrow (today), we shall have a press conference at Hotel Africana where we are going to clear the air about all this so that everyone’s nerves can calm down.” “FDC has been going through the same problems year on; we need to build a new consensus to help our party move in an entirely new direction to take power in 2021,” he added.

Mr Semujju said he belongs to FDC and would remain loyal to the party in their struggle to rid the country of bad governance.
He added that the first priority Mr Amuriat should undertake is reconstructing consensus on the direction of the party and methods of work in order to get to the right path.
Mr Moses Byamugisha, one of the contestants in the FDC presidential race, declared his willingness to work with the new party president.

He said he wants to meet him after the post-election dust has settled down to discuss ways of bringing back party members who defected and to heal the wounds after such acrimonious campaign.
“I want to assure you that myself and my team would rally behind him as the new president in the struggle to serve the people of FDC and Ugandans generally. He should be reminded that I, Byamugisha, would remain committed and available for him in case he finds it necessary to assign me to any FDC party work. I am more than ready to meet him even now,” Mr Byamugisha said.

Mr Dan Matsiko another contestant, said he is ready to work with the new party president.
“If the president calls me, I will go and listen to what he tells me. FDC has a voice and political ambition. When it speaks, it has spoken. The delegates spoke that Amuriat is the president and who are we to refuse?” he asked.
However, he opened up a battle against Mr Muntu, saying if the retired major general wants to break away from the party, he is free to pursue that mission.

“If Muntu wants to go and form his own party let him go, but when he fails let him not ever come back. He should go and ask Amama Mbabazi,” Mr Matsiko said.
Maj Gen Muntu’s team has denied the raging claims that he intends to form a breakaway party.
“In fact, I was in the race particularly to have Maj Gen Muntu out of office. Now we should fight to see the general himself [President Museveni] out of State House,” Mr Matsiko added.

On reshuffles
Mr Amuriat dismissed speculation that there are plans to reshuffle the Opposition shadow Cabinet in Parliament.
He said nobody, regardless of who voted for him, will be reshuffled until his or her time in Parliament is up.
He described the claims on the impending Shadow Cabinet reshuffle as “speculation and empty talk”.
“As a party that is preparing for 2021 general elections, we need cohesion, we need each other, we need a review process,” Mr Amuriat said.

“If there are individuals or party leaders who are giving statements on this [impending reshuffle] issue, they are giving statements as individuals and reacting to speculation. But the decision will be made on consultation with party organs, especially NEC at the right time,” he added.
The party usually holds a mid-term review of its parliamentary leadership.
During the 9th Parliament, Gen Muntu changed the leadership after the mid-term review dropping his presidential race rival Nandala Mafabi from the position of Leader of Opposition in Parliament (LoP).

Asked about FDC members who defected to other parties, especially the ruling NRM, Mr Amuriat declined to condemn them. He argued that FDC is a family whose door is open for anybody who has defected to come back home.
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