The High Court Civil Division Judge Musa Ssekaana has allowed the Forum for Democratic Change Party to hold its National Delegates Conference today, dismissing an application by a faction which sought to block the same.
About two weeks ago, the Katonga faction of FDC sued the Chairperson of the party’s Electoral Commission Boniface Toterebuka Bamwenda accusing him of having abrogated the party constitution and usurping powers of the party Chairperson Ambassador Wasswa Birigwa.
They also filed an application seeking a temporary injunction restraining Toterebuka, his agents, servants or employees and anyone acting under him from holding the position and/or office of the Chief Electoral Commissioner of FDC pending the main suit. The group also asked the Court to stop him from presiding over today’s internal elections and to stop the conference from taking place.
The faction said that the conference, if allowed to go on, would whittle down or completely obliterate the role and authority of the office of the Chairperson and National Executive Commitee, thereby pugging the party into anarchy, disorder and chaos, much to their detriment.
The court had earlier heard through the applicant’s lawyers led by Erias Lukwago that before the NEC retreat could be held to consider Toterebuka’s illegal occupation of the office of the Chief Electoral Commissioner, he unilaterally rolled out a purported election road map culminating into a delegates conference slated for December 2023.
They said that unless the court restrains Toterebuka, he is hell-bent on proceeding with his illegal actions which will inevitably lead to the disintegration and eventual demise of the party thereby causing irreparable damages and injury to them as applicants who have immensely contributed to the development of the Party.
Their biggest worry was that in today’s conference once okayed, they will be illegally relieved of their duties as NEC members. But Toterebuka through his lawyers led by Julius Galisonga and Nandah Wamukota asked the Court to dismiss the application saying he called for the conference not as an individual but on behalf of the party.
He said that as chairperson of the Party’s Electoral Commission, he is aware that the National Council has over 300 members while the National Executive Committee is comprised of only 76 members. He notes that the applicants are a minority and this application is brought in bad faith with the intention of upsetting the decisions arrived at democratically in the party by the party organs.
The court further heard that FDC as a party has internal organs for resolving disputes and this particular issue has not been brought before it. He added that the so-called petitions attached to Ambassador Biriggwa’s affidavit are forgeries crafted to support and facilitate the suit, as the party has never received, recorded or stamped any of the said petitions to call for an extraordinary meeting.
In a decision delivered electronically at midnight, Justice Musa Ssekaana dismissed the application saying that the party’s interest should supersede the applicants as NEC members who comprise 35 per cent of the entire National Executive Committee-NEC..
Ssekaana said that he had not found any merit in the application filed by the Katonga faction led by the Party Chairperson Ambassador Wasswa Birigwa and that it would be unfair to stop the Delegates Conference from taking place because members have already arrived to attend the same and money has already been spent to organize it.
“The members have already arrived to attend the Delegate’s Conference and money has already been expended for the purpose. It would be unfair to stop the conference and this would have both financial and economic implications in addition to the general confusion to the party membership,” he added.
Ssekaana has also observed that the actions of the applicants to seek a temporary injunction as belated was an act of bad faith. This, he said is because, Toterebuka stated in his affidavit that the date of today’s conference was set in July 2023 But the applicants did not explain why they decided to apply for a temporary injunction on October 3, 2023, only two days to the function/conference.
According to Ssekaana, by so doing, the Katonga faction was trying to stampede the court with an application for an interim injunction within such a short time, adding that the delay in applying is equally a strong ground to deny a temporary injunction since it is a discretionary and equitable remedy.
“The applicants had an unfettered duty to satisfy the court that this equitable remedy granted at the discretion of the court was available to them. They also had a duty to satisfy the court that in the special circumstance of the case, they are entitled to the relief of temporary injunction which in my view they have failed to discharge”, added Ssekaana.
The FDC party is split into two factions with one faction led by Party President Patrick Amuriat Oboi and Nathan Nandala Mafabi on one side, then another group led by former FDC President Dr Kizza Besigye, Kampala City Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago and Kira Municipality MP Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda.
Trouble and confusion in the party started when Birigwa who is believed to have sided with Besigye led the group to accuse the Mafabi Amuriat group of receiving what they describe as dirty state money. The said money is alleged to have been used by the party in the 2021 elections.
The factions have since been engaged in mudslinging as they battle for supremacy in the party which will in December 2024 be 20 years old.
URN.