The opposition Forum for Democratic Change has sent a team of four lawyers to Arusha, Tanzania, to file a petition on Friday in regard to East African Legislative Assembly polls.
The team led by the shadow cabinet attorney general Abdu Katuntu, also includes Jackson Kafuzi, Paul Mwiru and Wandera Ogalo who is already in Arusha.
This was resolved in a NEC meeting that sat for over three hours at the party headquarters today chaired by party Secretary General Alice Alaso.
Katuntu says they are seeking interpretation from the East African Court of Justice, of the rules of procedure of the Parliament of Uganda which define how membership to EALA is constituted in consonance with the treaty.
He adds that they need to resolve the matter once and for all since it shall affect even the future EALA elections. Katuntu says the ruling National Resistance Movement has decided to manipulate the elections with its numerical strength.
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Alaso says they are discontented with the interpretation of the rules as embodied with the rules of Parliament and adds that they shall only participate in the EALA elections after they get that interpretation.
The FDC also say they were shocked and feel betrayed by their partner opposition parties especially the Democratic Party. Alaso says the DP and Uganda People’s Congress went ahead to nominate and agree to participate in the process without communicating to the FDC.
After the NRM announced they shall take six out of the nine slots for Uganda at the EALA, opposition parties agreed to seek interpretation of the rules of procedure.
The FDC secretary general says the reason they got into the search for interpretation is because they wanted fairness for all parties represented in Parliament as provided for under Article 50 of the East African treaty.
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However, Mathias Nsubuga, the DP secretary general, says it was his party that went to court and not FDC so their move should not be seen as a betrayal.
Father Jacinto Ogwal, UPC secretary general says the party’s internal process of nomination is going on and the candidates are still handing in their papers.
However, they maintain that if the NRM goes ahead to give the opposition three slots in totality they shall go to court.
Meanwhile the FDC has cut down its number of candidates to seven from eight. One of the candidates, Louis Dramadri, reportedly forged Alaso’s signature for him to get nominated. Alaso says she had not written to the Parliament Clerk nor signed Dramadri’s papers.
The party will now task Dramadri to provide a satisfactory explanation for his behaviour, short of which he will face the disciplinary committee. Dramadri who was present at the party offices declined to comment.
His cancellation leaves the party with John Kazoora, Augustine Ruzindana, Ingrid Turinawe, Salaamu Musumba, Anita Among and Christopher Kibazanga. Elections for the EALA candidates shall be held on Tuesday next week.
On Monday night, NRM endorsed six incumbents to stand on the party ticket. The six include Dora Byamukama, Nusura Tiperu, Dan Kidega, Margaret Zziwa, Michael Ssebalu and Bernard Mulengani. Only one of the party’s representatives, Lydia Wanyoto, was blocked from contesting after serving two consecutive terms.
