Clergy release agenda for national dialogue

Kampala. The Inter Religious Council of Uganda (IRCU) and The Elders’ Forum of Uganda (TEFU) have released the final dates for the launch of the national dialogue, also set up a seven-point agenda the forum will address.
According to the updated programme, the launch is scheduled for November 21 during which the representatives from different groups will adopt the process frame paper which sets out the agenda and modalities for the dialogue, set up thematic working groups and authorise the planned nationwide citizens’ consultation.
Sheikh Shaban Ramadhan Mubaje, the chairperson of the IRCU, yesterday said the national dialogue is not an event, but a process, which he hoped its first phase would lead to the national conference.
“We envisage that the first phase of the process will culminate into national conference to take place in June 2019,” he said.
According to him, the process will proceed along multiple tracks, with conversations led by the IRCU and TEFU.
Sheikh Mubaje explained that the political party dialogue will be led by the national consultative forum and the inter party organisations for dialogue.

Party dialogue
The National Resistance Movement (NRM) and Forum for Democratic Change (FDC)parties negotiations will also feature prominently alongside the constitutional review which will be spearheaded by the constitutional review commission.
“We hope that all citizens here and in diaspora will embrace this nonpartisan and inclusive process so that together we can build on the progress of the last 56 years of independence and shape the future of our country,” he said.
The agenda for the national dialogue has been narrowed to seven issues which they say are critical for the country to move forward.
These include; a national consensus on values, national consensus on diversity, an economy that works for everybody and a national consensus on access to land and natural resources.
Others are national consensus on service delivery, consensus on political commitment, constitutionalism and implementation modalities.
Retired Justice James Ogoola, the chairman of TEFU, said these issues form the basis for discussion and urged Ugandans to actively participate.
Justice Ogoola said as an independent nation, Uganda has existed for more than 50 years, seeing all the different events unfolding in the process.
“In those 50 years we have seen a lot of good done, but also seen a lot of pain, heartache, problems, rebellions, coups, violence, blood and war. We as a nation must not go through the next 50 years of the same. We must avoid that and have a different new Uganda for the next 50 years and maybe even after 500 years,” he said.
He added: “We need some messianic force of salvation, the people are empowered under our constitution to sit together and design the destiny of that Uganda for the next 50 years.”
Justice Ogoola said citizens must be able to evaluate what went wrong in the last 50 years and get a solution.
It is yet to be seen if the planned consensus will be reached. President Museveni is expected to launch the process on November 21, from which different thematic dialogues will take place across the country.