Defeated Muntu keeps FDC guessing

KAMPALA.

Smarting from a crushing defeat, out-going FDC president, Maj Gen Mugisha Muntu kept his cards close to his chest and only promised to reveal his next course of action in a “few weeks,” leaving a polarised party in a state of suspense.
Gen Muntu suffered his fourth electoral defeat in FDC to former Kumi Municipality MP, Patrick Amuriat Oboi, late Friday evening. The setback appeared to jolt Muntu, who made it clear that now is the time for him to make a decision regarding his status in FDC.
Amuriat polled 641 votes to Muntu’s 463, defeating him with 168 votes.
Before Friday night’s defeat, Gen Muntu had been defeated on three occasions by Dr Kizza Besigye, for president in 2009 and for party presidential flag bearer in 2010 and 2015. Gen Muntu’s only victory came in 2012 when he defeated Nandala Mafabi for party president.
But Gen Muntu’s watershed moment was the defeat to Mr Amuriat – backed by Dr Besigye and Mr Mafabi – that sent shockwaves in FDC and made it clear to the general that a Rubicon line had been crossed.
“On my side in the next few weeks or so, there are decisions I will have to make. So we need to bear with each other even as we ponder the decisions we will have to make,” Gen Muntu said after conceding defeat to Amuriat.
He did not say much about his next game plan but it was Soroti Woman MP Angeline Osege, his staunch supporter, who offered clues on what lies ahead. “We can register as a political party,” Ms Osege retorted to an Amuriat supporter who was heckling her.
Gen Muntu’s particular source of annoyance stems from 2012 when he defeated Mafabi for the presidency and had his victory challenged by the Budadiri East MP with the support of Dr Besigye who proceeded to decamp and organise a parallel pressure group.
In his last pitch impassioned campaign address at Namboole stadium, a highly-charged Gen Muntu referenced the internal unrest he had to deal with and asked delegates to address the question of trust in him, before launching an unusual rant at Dr Besigye, questioning his democratic credentials.
“They have called me a mole. I want you the FDC leaders to determine that question today. I am a military man. If there are no soldiers behind you, you cannot win a war,” Gen Muntu told delegates before voting.
In his response, Dr Besigye did not hold back, dismissing the general’s grievances as “ridiculous” and “unfair”.
It was telling, when at the time it was clear that Amuriat had won the election, his frenzied supporters composed quick songs mocking Gen Muntu’s tirade against Dr Besigye and calling out all the party leaders who had backed Muntu, daring them to leave the party.