The Opposition National Unity Platform (NUP) party has backtracked on its earlier stance not to join the Interparty Organisation for Dialogue (IPOD), but now says it has been compelled by the law governing the mother organ, the National Consultative Forum, to which it actively belongs.
NUP Secretary General David Lewis Rubongoya told this newspaper that they have sought a constitutional remedy to the conundrum, but as they wait for the court pronouncement, they will have to go with what the current law provides by signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with IPOD.
Parliament recently amended the Political Parties and Organisations Act to make it mandatory for all political parties to belong either to IPOD or the Forum for Non-Represented Political Parties. The two organs were made departments under the National Consultative Forum, where the National Unity Platform is an active member and deputy chairperson.
‘As you may all know, the law was amended on participation in IPOD, and we also know that it was primarily targeting us as a party. We challenged the law in the Constitutional Court, but we also know that the decision may come after five or 10 years. We shall keep waiting, but in the meantime, we have no choice but to sign the MoU [with IPOD],’ Mr Rubongoya said in an interview.
Cash-strapped
Sources that spoke to Monitor on condition of anonymity indicated that many departments within the party are struggling to facilitate themselves, especially during this campaign period.
‘There are so many financial issues that need to be met, but there is no money. Most of these programmes have been pending even before the start of the campaigns, so there is a need for money,’ a source told Monitor in an interview. It was not clear whether this could have pressured NUP to make a U-turn to sign the MoU with IPOD.
In July, after asking party members to express interest in vying for various positions, NUP launched a fundraising drive, targeting at least Shs9b to facilitate their campaigns.
The NUP party leaders at the time said the funds were needed to finance a fully operational campaign secretariat and support the party’s candidates across the country. But at the start of the campaigns after nominations, Mr Ronald Balimwezo, who headed the fundraising campaign, indicated they had only managed to collect about Shs1.5b, which he said was meagre to finance most of their work.
Political parties that have received money from the EC based on the IPOD arrangement include the Democratic Party (DP) (Shs485m), Uganda Peoples Congress (UPC) (Shs485m), Justice Forum (Jeema) (Shs53m), and People’s Progressive Party (PPP) (Shs53m). Section 14 of the Political Parties and other Organisations Act stipulates that the government has the mandate to fund political entities with representation in Parliament through EC to run activities and pay bills for their offices.
In May, Parliament passed the amendment of the Political Parties and Organisations law, which sought to revise Section 20 of the principal Act to recognise IPOD as a statutory organ of the National Consultative Forum, for parties holding parliamentary seats.
What the law says
Section 20 of the principal Act was amended by inserting immediately after subsection (1), to state: ‘(1a) The National Consultative Forum referred to in subsection (1) shall be comprised of two organs as follows- (a) the organ for political parties and political organisations with representation in Parliament which shall be known as the Inter-Party Organisation for Dialogue; and (b) the organ for political parties and political organisations without representation in Parliament which shall be known as the Forum for Non-Represented Political Parties and Political Organisations.’
Over the years, despite being the National Consultative Forum vice chairperson, the NUP and sister Opposition party, the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), had snubbed all IPOD summits, indicating they were not ready to engage with President Museveni without committing to releasing all political prisoners and prioritising a peaceful handover of power.
Mao’s criticism
Shortly before being named minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Mr Nobert Mao criticised the decision by NUP not to take part in IPOD activities and yet still take money that is provided for by the government to support political parties. Funding of political parties with representation in Parliament is a conversation that was held after the restoration of multi-party dispensation in the country by different political players and stakeholders in 2005.
After the 2021 elections, the National Resistance Movement (NRM) as the dominant party in Parliament, received Shs17b, NUP, which is the second dominant force, received Shs3.1b followed by FDC, which got Shs1.7b.
Attending summits
On whether they will finally attend the IPOD summits when they come up, Mr Rubongoya said: ‘We shall cross that river when we get there because for now, we are focused on changing the government. By the end of the elections, we hope that Ugandans will take us to State House.’
In July 2022, the government moved to increase the money by almost half, from Shs23b to Shs35b, as it started tightening nooses on the political parties that do not participate in the IPOD summit, including the discussions around the amendment of the law on the same.
At the IPOD summit that took place at Kololo a fortnight ago, which was attended by most of the political parties, the attendees’ speeches were dominated by the fact that they had agreed to dialogue with the government as a way to forge ahead to address issues of the rule of law, rampant abductions of Opposition political supporters.
Mr Rubongoya yesterday told this publication: ‘We are aware of the high-handedness in this whole move because people didn’t want us to get that money which is given to us by law. We know that other political parties had not been attending the IPOD. How come they only moved to amend the law when we came into the picture?’
In July this year, following the IPOD meeting that sat at State Lodge in Kampala, NUP party made it clear they would not be participating in the engagement, indicating they are not driven by funding but rather by the determination to end the NRM rule.
On September 25, NUP petitioned the Constitutional Court, challenging their exclusion from conversations and Parliament passing the Political Parties and Organisation (Amendment) Act, 2005, that barred political parties from getting government funding and sitting with the government, where the IPOD was made a constitutive organ of the National Consultative Forum (NCF).
EC speak out
In his response, Mr Julius Mucunguzi, the EC spokesperson, recommended the aggrieved parties should not run to EC to seek redress but IPOD, who are the implementers of the Political Parties and Organisations Act, 2005.
‘Any complaint needs to be submitted to the IPOD Summit. EC is not a member of IPOD; EC is simply a holder of the money to pass it onto those whom it is instructed to pass it to. It does not determine or decide who receives the money,’ said Mr Mucunguzi.
‘The last meeting of IPOD took decisions that if anybody has a complaint, may be advised to address to IPOD. EC is not an IPOD secretariat, and doesn’t handle correspondences for that purpose,’ he added.
Looking back
During the 2019 IPOD summit, which sat in Munyonyo, the biggest discussion was to increase the money channelled to political parties from Shs10b to Shs35b, and the method through which they are given, because giving money in accordance with representation in Parliament was unfair to the other parties.
For instance, during the meeting, members resolved that out of the money that is given to parties, 15 percent would be given to all political parties, another 15 percent goes to IPOD secretariat, while 70 percent is what should be given out in accordance with party numerical representation in Parliament.
In 2021, when another IPOD summit sat at Kololo Independence Grounds, attended by NRM, UPC, DP and Jeema, the matter of funding still came up, and President Museveni told the members that it would be handled immediately.