THEY HAVE BEEN ARRESTED. Ugandans are funny. Trade Museveni for JPAM? Really... do you know this man, this Kigezi club man? Kale, it is your country.. --------------------------------------- A group of NRM youths under the Friends of the National Resistance Movement (FNRM) organisation have petitioned the NRM seeking to have the party chairman, Yoweri Museveni, disciplined for various reasons. The petition, dated October 22, is addressed to Moses Kigongo, the first national vice chairman and the head of the party’s disciplinary committee. The chief petitioner is Shakur Walusimbi, the national coordinator of FNRM, while Isa Kato, the coordinator of NRM Poor Youths Forum, seconded it. The Observer was not able to readily confirm whether Kigongo has received the three-page petition. But Walusimbi said they had delivered the petition to the party headquarters along Kyadondo road two weeks ago. “We hope that our petition is given due attention because the matters we are raising are serious,” Walusimbi told The Observer last week. FNRM, whose patron is former Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi, lists five grounds on which the disciplinary committee should act against Museveni. First, they accuse Museveni of failing to give clear guidance to the party during the NRM parliamentary caucus in Kyankwanzi in February. They write that he just looked on as NRM legislators violated the party constitution to pass a resolution endorsing him as the party’s sole candidate for the 2016 elections, way before the time for campaigns. “The [Kyankwanzi] resolution was illegal, null and void because it contravened article 39 (1), 35 (C) and 39 (2) of the NRM constitution. The chairman is aware of all these constitutional provisions which were breached when he chaired the meeting,” they note. The youth also argue that Museveni has facilitated and encouraged the formation of cliques, contrary to the party constitution. They claim that the NRM chairman has facilitated different groups to undermine some senior officials such as Mbabazi. Other accusations include incompetence, weakening the NRM party and failure to give accountability for party funds, specifically for the Movement House project. The youth recommend that Museveni should be dismissed as national chairman and not participate whatsoever in managing, organising and chairing the NRM delegates’ conference scheduled for December 15. They instead propose Rebecca Kadaga, the second national vice chairperson of NRM, to take charge of the conference. “The issues to be discussed centre on Museveni who wants the conference to give him powers to appoint a secretary general and to be endorsed as sole candidate. Therefore, he cannot be the one to chair the conference,” the petition states. But Ofwono Opondo, the deputy spokesperson of the NRM, labelled the group behind the petition as “unknown” to NRM, and described the issues raised as frivolous. “What is FNRM? Who are the NRM poor youths? Are these organs of the party?” he asked on Saturday. “These are simply masqueraders seeking for public attention,” said Opondo. observer.ug/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=35114:-pro-mbabazi-nrm-youths-file-anti-museveni-petition&catid=34:news&Itemid=114
Posted on: Mon, 24 Nov 2014 02:05:30 +0000