At the FDC’s Delegates Conference held in Namboole stadium, members voted Kumi former MP Patrick Oboi Amuriat as the new Party President replacing Rt. Maj. Gen. Gregory Mugisha Muntu. Amuriat defeated Muntu by about 180 votes. The other contenders Moses Byamugisha walked away with apart of 3, while Dan Malcolm Matsiko managed just 2 votes. Many argued that Amuriat a close ally of founding FDC Party President Dr. Kizza Besigye rode on the popularity of the leading Opposition figure to sail to victory.
A Political Analyst and Makerere University Lecturer of Political History Mwambutsya Ndebesa argued that the majority of FDC members took a gamble by electing Amuriat while others felt that Amuriat’s selection would diversify the party. “So I think it was a gamble, it may pay it may not pay but certainly doing the same things over and over again and expect new results would be insanity as some people have said.” Said, Mwambutsya Ndebesa – History Don, Makerere University.
According to Analyst and Researcher Godber Tumushabe, what FDC did was good for Uganda’s democratic development. He added that however if FDC was to take state power it had to work harder to challenge NRM which was not a political party in the real sense of the word but a party fused with the state. “So when NRM is organizing its things, it’s the District Police Commanders and the Resident District Commissioners and the District Intelligence Officers, they are the ones organizing and mobilizing for this group of people called NRM I prefer calling NRM a cult.” Said, Godber Tumushabe – Great Lakes Institute for Strategic Studies.
Tumushabe also argued that there was no big contradiction between Muntu’s style of politics and that employed by Besigye and his followers like Amuriat. “I think that if you are managing a political party, building party structures is indispensable even if you opted on what people call the defiance campaign as a different brand, you still need those structures to manage a successful defiance campaign.” Said Tumushabe. On the other hand, Ndebesa felt that in the latest contest Gen. Muntu and Amuriat had distinct support bases with Muntu appealing to the FDC’s elite while Amuriat had the popular support. “What is a way forward to me is not whether one candidate won or the other but there should be a way of damage control. And possibly they should work out a formula where Mugisha Muntu is given a post like the Chairmanship of the party so that he remains relevant, he remains a leader of the party.” Said Mwambutsya.
The Analysts agreed though Muntu and Amuriat faced tough times ahead, they will have to prove themselves in keeping FDC as a cohesion party in the midst of sharp differences in political approach. The two will represent two tendencies in FDC; Amuriat for the extremists and Muntu for the Moderates. “You contested as an incumbent you lost, part of the reason you lost you think part of the members of this party majority of them don’t trust you, so do you actually remain part of this organization? That’s really a tough choice for him.” Said Tumushabe. “Amuriat’s challenge is to demonstrate that he is not a puppet of Kizza Besigye but he is a leader in his own right.” Said Mwambutsya.
On the night Amuriat’s victory was announced, some of the more loyalties like Soroti Woman MP Angelina Ossege expressed their disappointment with the outcome which commuted anger. “Now if some of us cannot work with a certain way of doing things, then it means maybe we think of something else.” Said, Angelina Ossege – Woman MP, Soroti District. The spotlight was now on the new party leadership under Amuriat to see that whether they will hold FDC together to avoid disintegration like what nearly happened after the 2012 election when Gen. Muntu defeated Nadala Mafabi who now is the FDC Secretary General.
