UPC members free to vote any presidential candidate - Akena
By Elizabeth Kamurungi
The Uganda People’s Congress (UPC) President, Mr James Akena, has said party members are free to vote any presidential candidate of their choice in the 2021 General Election.
UPC will not field a presidential candidate in the next election but has not come out on whether it would support an Opposition candidate against President Yoweri Museveni.
“This is not like Australia where you are compelled to vote. I am sure if I ask how many of you here voted in the last election, I will find people who did not vote though eligible,” Mr Akena said after he was asked if UPC had made a decision on the party they would support in the forthcoming elections.
On August 26, Mr Akena told Daily Monitor he would not represent the party in the race for President, choosing to run for Lira East parliamentary seat.
In the last election, UPC did not field a presidential flag bearer. The party rallied behind former Premier Amama Mbabazi under the Democratic Alliance. Mr Akena declined any candidate.
For his lack of ambition in the presidential race, Mr Akena has come under criticism from a section of party members who say not fielding a candidate would leave party members exposed to voting for a different party, and consequently defecting to it.
“Members will be torn between Museveni, Bobi wine… Not having a candidate for President, the party risks losing its members because of affiliations and emotional attachment to the president one has voted,” Mr Dennis Adim Enap, Mr Akena’s former personal assistant, told Daily Monitor in a phone interview.
Mr Daniel Omara, a member of the party, however, said the members appreciate the position of the party and he will vote for a candidate who articulates issues that matter.
Mr Akena also sounded off at members who have come out to say they will contest for President on the party ticket.
According to the UPC constitution, the party president is the flag bearer in a general election.
“When we went through the process of determining the leadership of the party, neither Dr Opul nor Dan Okello picked or returned forms for that position. In UPC, we do not have separate positions of party leader and flag bearer,” Mr Akena said.
But Dr Dan Okello, the chairperson for UPC in Lira District has maintained that he will represent the party as presidential candidate.
Dr Okello says there is no legal party President since the delegate’s conference at which Mr Akena was elected defied a court order, which makes him not eligible.
Dr Okello said he had already expressed interest to the party but Daily Monitor could not verify these claims by press time.
