The Katonga faction headed by Rtd Col Dr. Kizza Besigye is set to hold a delegates conference on August 19, 2024, to decide on forming a new political party, Defiance Coalition Uganda.
The development comes after a serious fight with their Najjanankumbi counterparts over financial issues and failure by the Katonga group to unite with other established parties to form the United Forces of Change.
The 2021 elections saw the Forum for Democratic Change’s (FDC) performance decline drastically in all their former strongholds, with the NUP chasing them from the central region and reducing their numbers in Parliament by a half.
The political comeback and anticipated rejuvenation of the Katonga group have left many wondering if they indeed have anything new to bring to the table, with Besigye having exhausted all the would-be political ideas and having failed to remove President Museveni for the last 20 years.
Given that all opposition political parties in Uganda are marred with internal fights and sharp divisions, the creation of a new political party is a sign of how these opposition parties have actually failed to unite. The divisions and internal fights are said to be sponsored by President Museveni, but these opposition leaders have not been seen to be doing anything apart from fighting selfish wars and laying strategies for financial independence.
These fights have always given NRM a soft landing, and it is completely predictable that the 2026 elections will be the easiest for NRM given that the number of political parties has instead increased with increased fights and divisions.
The opposition political parties have continued to act like cults built on individuals rather than democratic institutions. The selfish characters of the party leaders never allow them to unite for a common goal but instead strive to attract western funding to enrich themselves using the common man conduits.
