The newly elevated Gulu City was among the areas with the lowest voter turn up in the country with only 34,916 people participating in the exercise, out of the 101,401 registered voters from 188 polling stations. This is a drastic decline from the 101,588 voters who participated in the process from the same area in 2016.
Secretary General Gerald Siranda says it is the cardinal role of every DP Member to keep recruiting members and building the party. Moreover, according to Siranda, Kyotera is an appropriate branch to lead the revival, seeing as the district did win 2 parliamentary seats and several LCV councilor seats.
The latest controversy is pitting the NUP campaigns coordination committees in greater Masaka sub-region led by Florence Namayanja and DP Vice President Fred Mukasa Mbidde, who is now putting Kyagulanyi’s campaign posters alongside his.
While addressing a rally at Busimbi division playground in Mityana municipality on Tuesday, Mao noted that many people pretend to be DP party supporters when in reality they are affiliated to other political parties.
The party’s top leadership is struggling to constitute campaign coordination committees for their presidential candidate in districts of the greater Masaka sub-region as more of their lower structure leaders decline to take up the responsibilities in favour of the National Unity Platform’s NUP presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu.
Denis Lukwaga Majwala, the Spokesperson of DP District council for Masaka indicates that many candidates especially the first-time contestants are stranded because they did not receive a prior orientation on the tasks that lie ahead of them.
Twelve of them will contest as independents; three on the ruling National Resistance Movement party ticket; three under Forum for Democratic Change, three under the Democratic Party; two under Alliance for National Transformation and two on the National Unity Platform ticket.
Dick Lukyamuzi, the Greater Masaka Region representative to the DP National Executive Committee-NEC blames the chaos on the recent defectors whom he accuses of continuously badmouthing their mother party and leaders despite parting ways.
She noted that her struggles to secure for the party a key position in Parliament, her contribution has not been appreciated by the top leadership that instead chose to insults her character. Ssentongo says that she is also disappointed with the party’s top leadership, which has focussed more energies on promoting disunity.
The controversy stems from the ongoing candidate’ identification process in which some members of FDC are seeking endorsement from the People Power pressure group, which is coordinated by DP leaders in the area.
Among the proposals according Muyizi include adopting the DP Parliamentary Chief Whip as a direct member to the party’s National Executive Committee NEC, introduction of specific Women and Youth Delegates Conferences, and introduction of councils for Special Interest groups.
Kidandala is also yet to relinquish the responsibilities of the DP Organizing Secretary, and on Saturday, he was in Masaka district to oversee the ongoing elections in the area. In his address to DP leaders who convened at Patel Shamij hall in Masaka Town, Kidandala said he would not succumb to any threats that deter him from performing what he defined as roles bestowed upon him by DP delegates.
Journalist and disability activist, Pat Robert Larubi resigned his job at Mental Health Uganda as Communications Officer and has stormed Tochi County in Omoro District to unseat incumbent Peter Okot of DP.
