KIZZA BESIGYE CONSPIRED TO DEFRAUD THE UGANDA REVENUE

by UgandaAug 7, 2023

Former FDC leader, Dr Kizza Besigye has denied claims that he received Shs 300m from Nandala Mafabi meant for facilitation of the party’s campaign agents in the 2021 elections.

“It is a lie that money was extended to me to keep for party agents,” a pretentious Besigye narrated at a press conference in Kampala on Monday morning.

“Hon. Nandala told me he was giving me the money because he was fearing the revenue authority,” he added.

“They were demanding money from his companies and if he placed it on his accounts, the authority (URA) would pounce on it and it would be difficult to recover it.”

Kizza Besigye Besigye’s remarks come after Mafabi told the party’s investigative committee that the National Executive Committee authorised him to borrow funds to run the Party activities.

In the process of looking for money, Nandala said he and his team approached Dr. Besigye to help them raise the money.

Instead, Dr. Besigye asked them to prepare the budget which they did, but he never got back to them.

“Mafabi and his team were upset by the way Dr. Besigye treated them whereas they had firmly stood with him in 2001-2020,” the committee report reads in part.

Commenting about the so-called dirty money, Nandala said he had mobilised the funds for party agents, but could not keep it himself because URA had always garnished his accounts during the period for elections.

The committee members stated that Mafabi had “demonstrated that the money used” was from legitimate sources.

Kasangati

Besigye told the media that upon being approached by Mafabi, he told the FDC Secretary General that, “my home was not secure. My home is always being surrounded and sometimes searched. I told him I could not keep the money with myself, but I would put it somewhere which we discussed would be safe.”

He added: “My first concern came with the arrival of the money. The money arrived at my home at 10 pm. Hon. Nandala rang me saying that, ‘The other thing we talked about is about to arrive.’ I asked him where the money was passing because there was a curfew at the time and people were not allowed to move. He told me not to worry and before long his driver alone handed me a big box of money.”

The former presidential candidate said after failing to “make progress with this Shs 300 million and after consulting with my colleagues on the problematic money, we had taken the decision to return it. However, there was the hullabaloo of elections going on.”

Besigye said he was in Rukungiri when received a call from Hon. Nandala that he wanted the money to use for agents.

“That was the first time I heard of the story of the agents. Since I was away I told him that I could put it at my petrol station in Nsambya. When later followed up on the issue my manager in Nsambya told me that indeed the money had been taken and she had signed off on it.”

Reports that Nandala picked Shs 7bn from State House in the run-up to the 2021 elections had split the once formidable party and threatens its political fortunes in the 2026 polls.

Besigye today admitted that the “dirty money” has made FDC less functional and wept as he recalled dozens of opposition activists who have died in the ‘struggle’ to remove president Museveni from power.

“A party functions through its organs. The National Executive Committee is now in shambles. Members within the committee have views that the leader of the party doesn’t want, therefore NEC will not sit,” said Besigye.

Besigye also said Nandala failed to use a committee of elders set up to investigate the dirty money to “absolve himself” of any wrongdoing.

He further said the committee’s report which cleared Nandala’s name did not bother to look for facts but simply recycled statements recorded from different party leaders who were interviewed over the dirty money.

The committee was set up by party President Patrick Amuriat in November last year, after Besigye complained about Mr Nandala receiving funding from suspect sources as the party prepared for the general elections.

Besigye said he had received information directly from the State House about the funds.

The future of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) is at stake over increased infighting and mutual suspicions among the leaders of the once parasitic opposition political party.

The rift between FDC’s Secretary General Nandala Mafabi and the godfather of the organisation, Dr. Kizza Besigye, has been deepening on a daily basis since 2021.

The beef stems from reports that Mafabi received a total of Shs 7 billion in the run-up to the 2021 elections from mysterious sources.

It is alleged the money came from State House following secret talks between Criminal Yoweri Museveni, who is the ruling NRM chairman, and Mafabi.

Efforts to reach Mafabi are yet to bear fruit.

Criminal Yoweri Museveni is reportedly keen on helping FDC regain its lost glory to counter the threat posed by the National Unity Platform (NUP).

Criminal Yoweri Museveni, who in the 2021 elections vowed to destroy the NUP, sees Bobi Wine’s party as more radical and dangerous than the FDC, which has more reasonable, mature, elderly, and moderate politicians.

By helping the FDC financially to reclaim several MP seats in Buganda and Eastern Uganda, insiders say, Museveni will be able to weaken the NUP in its stronghold areas.

Moreso, the possible collapse of the FDC works against Criminal Yoweri Museveni’s interests in weakening the NUP. This is because all frustrated opposition figures would shift from the FDC to the NUP for better political fortunes.

However, one of Mafabi’s allies in the FDC said, “Those fighting Mafabi are using rumours of him getting money from the State House to undermine his leadership because we have elections coming up soon.”

Another associate of Mafabi emphasised: “If they claim he picked up money from State House, let them bring the evidence. That’s the tactic some people used to undermine and remove Mugisha Muntu from the position of party president.”

Nevertheless, we have it on good authority that the rumour about State House money has caused considerable damage in the party and that Dr. Besigye’s associates no longer see eye to eye with Mafabi.

Many of Besigye’s allies have since vowed to take on Mafabi publicly and humiliate him.

Ingrid Turinawe, a once vocal FDC Women’s leader and prominent activist who battled police in dozens of street battles , recently described Mafabi as Amuriat’s “boss.”

In a Tweet, Turinawe observed: “Poa (Patrick Oboi Amuriat) and his Boss have moved to block opponents.” She added: “To contest for party president you will pay Shs 5m, for Secretary General position, you pay Shs 2m. To become an NEC member or district Chair you pay Shs 100,000.”

Poa & his Boss have moved 2 block opponents. To contest for party president you will pay 5m, for SG 2m. To b’me NEC member or district Chair u pay 100k.
Previously, requirement was a party card of sh 1000. #rescuefdc
— Ingrid Turinawe (@IngridTurinawe) June 2, 2023

Turinawe said, ” Previously, the requirement was a party card of Shs 1000.”

She emphasised: “These are not nominations for flag-bearers, they are party structure leadership positions where service is voluntary and requires sacrifice. No office and no Salary.”

It is alleged that Mafabi introduced exorbitant fees, which they would raise to facilitate their allies winning leadership positions in the party while locking out opponents.

This would enable Mafabi and Amuriat to build a strong political base at the grassroots level to maintain their grip on party affairs.

An FDC member, Paul Kisambira, on June 2 wrote to the party chairman, Waswa Birigwa, saying the “impugned fees are disenfranchising the FDC members desirous to offer service to the party and the promotion of national voluntary service.”

He said the FDC “has been vocal at the frontlines of resisting and rejecting monetisation of Ugandan politics, and the FDC was the last hope for Ugandans for ethical, free, and fair processes in upholding the promise of democracy and constitutionalism.”

Kisambira further asked: “Are we ready under your tenure, Mr. Chairman, to build a party of masters and slaves, where the slaves (poor) only vote for the rich but cannot be voted for?” How are we going to continue to stand against political corruption when FDC elections are turned into auctions?”

Kisambira observed that leaders elected through a monetised process (from villages to district level) will be the ones to appoint the National Executive Committee, which takes important decisions for the party.

Elections postponed

The FDC had planned to hold internal elections right from the villages to the district level, but this activity was postponed over internal disagreements.

FDC said the June 16 National Executive Committee meeting adjusted the internal election roadmap “to allow districts more time to submit their list of Sub-county and Parish electoral supervisors.”

The FDC statement issued on June 18 reads in part: “This serves to inform all FDC members and leaders that there shall be no village branch elections on June 19, 2023, as earlier planned.”

However, an insider said, “Our elders argued that it was wrong to organise elections at a time when the party is fractured,” adding, “There is serious internal fighting at the moment and the mood is not conducive for elections.”

It is also understood that some party leaders have expressed discomfort over Mafabi’s tight grip on the process of distributing party cards.

For one to participate in the FDC elections, one must identify oneself with a party card.

However, as the organisation was edging closer to elections, Mafabi said the party had yet to print cards.

Besigye’s close associates told us that Mafabi’s group, which comprises party president Patrick Amuriat, wants its supporters right from the village level to be the first to get the party cards.

This has also caused friction in the top leadership of the party.

The third reason is the jostling for political positions.

Sources said Mafabi fears that Besigye is pushing the useless Kampala Mayor, Erias Lukwago to stand as FDC’s flag-bearer in the 2026 presidential elections.

To Mafabi’s group, Lukwago, who is FDC’s Deputy President, is a newcomer to the party.

This group argues that the presidential candidate should come from the old guard, which has paid a heavy price over a long period of time for opposing President Museveni’s government.

It remains unclear if Lukwago has intentions of standing for president in 2026.