Gen Muntu, Mafabi clash over Turinawe Eala candidature

Kampala.

Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) president Gen Mugisha Muntu and party secretary general Nandala Mafabi yesterday clashed over the former’s letter to Parliament attempting to withdraw party mobiliser Ingrid Turinawe as a candidate for the East African Legislative Assembly (Eala).

Without giving reasons, Gen Muntu’s letter said the party would only retain one candidate, former Kaberamaido Woman MP Florence Ibi Ekwau.

“We made these decisions in the National Executive Committee (NEC) and the working committee of the party,” Gen Muntu told this newspaper last evening.
He said after the party’s nomination process in which Ms Ibi beat Ms Turinawe, the working committee of the party decided to send two candidates to compete in the elections but with a condition.

“We nominated two candidates in the hope that we would have two slots,” Gen Muntu said. “But we agreed (in NEC and working committee) that if after negotiations with the other stakeholders we found that we would have only one slot then one of the candidates would be withdrawn.”

Mafabi disagrees
Gen Muntu said he, instead of secretary general Mafabi, wrote to withdraw Ms Turinawe from the race because Mr Mafabi had travelled.

Mr Mafabi, speaking to this newspaper on phone last night, however, said no decision had been reached by the party organs to withdraw Ms Turinawe.

“If Gen Muntu is telling you that we decided to withdraw one candidate after establishing that we can only send one candidate to Eala, how has he now established that? Are there guiding rules to that effect that you have seen?”

Gen Muntu has in recent weeks met with representatives of other parties over the Eala elections, including Democratic Party president Norbert Mao and National Resistance Movement secretary general Kasule Lumumba, to discuss the modalities of the election.

But Mr Mafabi and Ms Turinawe insist none of whatever may have been agreed upon in those meetings is conclusive. Mr Mafabi says within the Inter-Party Organisation for Dialogue, a donor-backed platform for political parties, a proposal has been floated that each party that is represented in Parliament is guaranteed one of the nine available slots and then the rest are shared between the parties based on numerical strength. He says in this case FDC would take more than one representative.

In the absence of an agreed formula, Mr Mafabi said, “then all the candidates should be left to compete.”

Turinawe defies Muntu
Immediately after Gen Muntu’s letter to Parliament came to light, Ms Turinawe took to her Facebook page and proclaimed she was still in the race in what looked like a slap in the face of the party president.

“I am in the race, the author of that letter has no authority to withdraw me,” Ms Turinawe wrote.

Hours later, the Clerk to Parliament, Ms Jane Kibirige, citing the rules for the election of Eala MPs, wrote to Gen Muntu that once a candidate is nominated, only he/she could withdraw their candidature.

In a day of quick-fire exchanges of letters, Gen Muntu replied, apologising that it had been an “oversight” on his part in regards to the rules, but still maintained that Ms Turinawe stood withdrawn as an FDC candidate in the Eala race.
“While our position remains the same, I am working on rectification measures to address the above oversight given that our Secretary General and deputies are out of station,” Gen Muntu said.

Gen Muntu called the Monitor newsroom and said his decision to write to Parliament had been informed by the fact that secretary general Mafabi and his deputy Harold Kaija had travelled to the Netherlands, while the second deputy secretary general was in Kabale.