Stanley Katembeya, a member of the FDC Special Elder’s Committee created to mediate and resolve the ongoing wrangles in the party, is accused of being used by the Katonga faction to spy on the Najjanakumbi faction.
According to Geoffrey Ekanya, Member of Parliament for Tororo County North, the proceedings of the Special Elders Committee under the chairmanship of Dr. Frank Nabwiso were shared by Katembeya on a daily basis with Dr. Besigye, revealing all the submissions shared by the Najanakumbi team.
“The meeting at Nsambya was as a result of what Katembeya had shared from the committee; the committee learned that Dr. Besigye’s continuous interference in the Party’s active politics and finances, playing one member against the other through favouritism, and the creation of Katonga faction were the main root causes of the wrangles,” Ekanya said.
Ekanya further revealed that, after Katembeya shared the findings of the committee, Besigye convened an urgent meeting to counter the findings. The meeting moved that Katembeya resign from the committee and that Ssemujju hold a separate meeting at Nsambya.
Following the above suggestions, Katembeya resigned and, in his resignation letter, claimed that there was influence peddling by the Najjanakumbi faction, accusing the secretary to the committee of manipulating the minutes and Amuriat and Nandala of holding parallel meetings to gain support countrywide.
“I have also repeatedly been disturbed by the conduct of the secretary to the committee, seconded to us by the secretary general, who has repeatedly recorded and read to us views not captured from the meetings, which he has adamantly stuck to. Clearly, there is no good will at your level to solve this matter, and this committee could be used as a scapegoat to cause more confusion,” reads part of Katembeya’s resignation letter.
However, Ekanya wonders why he chose to resign at the end of the committee’s findings: “Katembeya attended all the proceedings, waited and pulled out at the time the committee was processing a report, and gave a variety of reasons why he was on the committee in the first place to spy and report all the outcomes.”
“Imagine that Katembeya, who wishes the party well, sat and attended all the proceedings; if he thought the committee was compromised, why didn’t he leave at the start or during the proceedings but choose to resign when it is processing the final report? If he was honest, the honorable thing he would have done would have been to write a minority report,” he added.
The wrangles in the FDC seem to be far from over with new allegations of espionage, bribery, and betrayal emerging on a daily basis.
