Mityana South Member of Parliament Richard Lumu has written to the Electoral Commission requesting it not to recognise amendments to the Democratic Party Constitution, arguing that they didn’t follow the procedures.
In a letter written to the EC chairperson, Justice Simon Mugenyi Byabakama, Lumu, who is also the deputy Legal Advisor of DP, said he was the mover of the amendments when the party held its National Delegates Conference in September 2020 at Sir Samuel Baker School in Gulu District. He said that while many of his proposed amendments were rejected by the delegates, others were deferred for more consultation, and no decision has ever been reached on them, and hence, he was very surprised that the Secretary General of DP, Gerald Siranda, submitted to the EC amendments to its constitution for recognition.
The EC is the statutory body that regulates political parties. “To my dismay and without any consultation or approval by the National Executive Committee (NEC) or any competent organ of the Party, the current Secretary General…has unilaterally submitted a version of what he alleges to be the “approved amendments” to your office for gazettal. These amendments were neither presented nor adopted by the delegates in Gulu and represent a distortion of the proposals I originally moved”, Lumu said.
He added, “Even more concerning is the fact that these purported amendments were gazetted under The Uganda Gazette…of 25th April, 2025. This action provides a critical opportunity for scrutiny before these changes are wrongly conferred legitimacy. Among the amendments that Lumu says have been occasioned on the DP constitution illegally include: Clause 29(A) that allows the Secretary General to be the chief administrative and accounting officer of the Party. “I wish to state categorically that this clause was never part of the proposals debated or adopted in Gulu.
Lumu said that the Democratic Party Constitution designates the Treasurer as the responsible officer for managing party funds and assets and that the gazetted provision represents a clear and unlawful attempt to centralise financial power in the hands of the Secretary General—a move that undermines fiduciary accountability and violates our internal separation of powers.
Other clauses that Lumu also says have been introduced in the constitution include the introduction of the Management Committee, which has the power to make binding decisions on the party. During the NDC, a proposal to establish a Management Committee was debated and overwhelmingly rejected. Yet, the gazetted amendments now purport to create such a body with sweeping powers to act on behalf of the entire Party. With a quorum of just four members out of a maximum of twelve, this structure is dangerously undemocratic and designed to bypass the National Executive Committee, the highest administrative organ between Delegates Conferences,” Lumu’s letter reads.
Lumu’s letter also takes issue with the new electoral guidelines that Siranda issued, which must be followed in electing party leaders this year. Lumu said the guidelines introduce exorbitant fees that will be an obstacle to many who would want to be party leaders. Now Lumu wants the EC to decline to recognise these amendments and instead calls for an investigation to find out the origin of these amendments. “As the initiator of the legitimate amendment proposals at Gulu NDC, I firmly reject the gazetted changes as fraudulent, unconstitutional, and injurious to the values and heritage of the Democratic Party. The amendments do not reflect the will of the delegates, nor do they follow the constitutional processes required for their adoption. They are the result of unilateral actions driven by narrow personal interests at the expense of democratic accountability and internal cohesion.
Lumu also wants the EC to issue a caution to Siranda against what he calls further unilateral actions regarding the Party Constitution without proper consultations and approvals.
Efforts to speak to Siranda were futile as he didn’t pick nor return calls and messages to his known telephone number.
Ever since the signing of the cooperation agreement that led to the appointment of Norbert Mao, its president general as minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs and the election of Siranda as a member of the East African Legislative Assembly, there is been acrimony in DP.
One group led by Buikwe South MP Dr Bayiga Lulume has been calling for the resignation of Mao for allegedly driving the party into the hands of President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni.