Delegates of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) subscribing to the Najjanankumbi faction have arrived at party headquarters in Najjanankumbi in Kampala just hours before the National Executive Committee leadership elections scheduled for Friday, October 6, 2023.
According to John Kikonyogo, the deputy party spokesperson, some of the delegates arrived yesterday, and many are expected to arrive today, Thursday, October 5, 2023.
He said that the forthcoming NEC elections will involve over 1,400 party delegates representing more than 125 districts where the party conducted grassroots elections, which most of the pro-Katonga leaders have declared null and void, claiming that they were not organised according to the standards of the party.
Kikonyogo revealed that various party supporters will run for over 35 positions. The positions include party president, deputies, the national chairman, deputies, secretary general, and treasurer general, among others.
However, the fate of the said NEC elections organised by the Najja faction is not yet determined after the FDC national chairperson, Wasswa Birigwa, ran to court, reasoning that if allowed to proceed, some leaders in his crew of Katonga would lose their party positions.
“An interim order doth issue restraining the respondent (Mr. Bamwenda), his agents, and his servants from holding the position of the office of the chief electoral commissioner of the Forum Democratic Change,” reads in part the court documents filed yesterday.
This development has come four days after the Katonga interim leadership under Erias Lukwago unveiled a parallel electoral road map, which will end with the convening of the National Delegates Conference slated for March 15, 2024.
However, court has advised that the Katonga faction can only gain legality if they convene at Najjanankumbi and oust the current leadership following the procedures stipulated in their party constitution.
The altercations between the Katonga faction and Najjanankumbi have left many party supporters at a crossroads as they try to search for which of the two is legitimate.
