The special Elders committee found Besigye guilty of orchestrating the bad blood existing between party members by spreading baseless rumours about the secretary general, Nandala Mafabi.
The committee submitted its findings on Friday, July 28, 2023, during the national council meeting that took place at the party headquarters.
The committee, through Jack Sabiiti, learned that it was Dr. Besigye who started the falsehoods about dirty money, yet the FDC Constitution gave a lot of powers to the Party President and Secretary General for mobilizing funds, and that Dr. Besigye used those powers successfully during his tenure, but when other people took over the FDC Leadership, he started accusing them of “dirty money“.
“I was aware that the Secretary General, Nandala Mafabi, and Geoffrey Ekanya, Treasurer General, were looking for money, during the 2021 general election, and followed the FDC guidelines of soliciting for funds like it had been during Dr. Besigye’s tenure; they used to get money from people who were close to Museveni and not disclose,” Sabiti said.
According to the Committee, Nandala was asked if he received any “dirty money,” as alleged by Dr. Besigye’s informers.
In his response, Nandala denied the claims and provided the committee with evidence that proved he did everything the National Executive Council had authorised him to do, including borrowing funds to run the party’s activities.
Sabiti further stressed that people think FDC is a personal belonging, especially Dr. Besigye, who keeps demanding accountability for the party, yet he is no longer holding any party office that gives him that authority.
The committee also discovered that Katonga offices receive funding from funds collected by Najjanakumbi and that they never demand any accountability because it had been established earlier that there was no need to expose sources of funding.
So Dr. Besigye employed double standards when he chose to query sources of funds, yet he was never asked at any one time to disclose his sources during his tenure.
In light of the above and other findings, the committee advised Dr. Besigye to stay clear of the finance accountabilities and accord the team at Najjanakumbi the same space and respect they accorded him while he ran the party.
