Okumu Reagan, the Aswa Member of Parliament, is in trouble with his party, the Forum for Democratic Change – FDC, following a hard-hitting revelation he made this week.
Okumu's troubles stem from a statement he made this week, blaming internal intrigue in the FDC party for the party's poor performance in last month's presidential and parliamentary elections.
On Monday this week, Reagan told journalists in parliament during a media conference that many FDC members were pre-occupied with settling their internal intrigue as the NRM was busy laying strategies to win the elections.
He said such was the situation on the ground that even led to failures by senior party members such as the leader of opposition, Prof. Ogenga Latigo, from the Acholi sub-region.
Reagan also accused the FDC party of spending more time in Kampala conferences to establish the Inter Party Cooperation – IPC, instead of going on the ground to campaign.
But now the Secretary General of FDC, Alice Alaso has weighed in the argument and denied there was any such intrigue.
Alaso who has just returned to Kampala from her re-election which she won convincingly told Uganda Radio Network URN, that Reagan should substantiate the level of intrigue he is referring to, the party members involved in the intrigue and why he did not bring the matter at an appropriate time if he knew that it would affect the election.
She argued that whenever there have been disagreements in the party, the matter has been dealt with decisively.
Alaso wondered why Reagan would make such a reckless statement at a time when the opposition was trying to find out what exactly happened in the elections, leading to their dismal performance.
Cue In: "I have no complaints............."
Cue Out: ".....by honorable Okumu Reagan". Alaso said that the loss of FDC members like Ogenga Latigo should not be blamed on any intrigue but on the large amounts of money that the NRM poured into the elections.
Another senior member of the party, the shadow minister for Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Ekanya, also said Reagan Okumu should clarify to the party what he meant when he said at the press conference that the party members from Western Uganda should not vie for the leadership of the party in next elections.
Ekanyasaid he hopes that Reagan was misquoted because the FDC, with its slogan of "One Uganda, One People" cannot be the same party debating tribe as a qualification for its top positions.
Ekanya said that the main emphasis of the opposition for the next five years should be to strategize on how to remove President Yoweri Museveni from power and not for members to fight over positions.
Reagan has declared he wants to run for the position of the party president in coming elections.
