Mixed reactions as Masindi FDC secretary general defects to NRM
He recalls when he left NRM and Amanyire called him for lunch.
Masindi: Politicians from different political parties have reacted toward the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party secretary general for Masindi Municipality, Rogers Amanyire Abwooli, who ditched his party and joined the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) Party.
Amanyire, who contested for the Masindi Municipality mayoral seat in the 2021 elections on the FDC ticket, defected to the ruling party on Saturday, March 16, 2024.
He registered in the Yellow NRM Book during the just-concluded party member registration update. According to Amanyire, he decided to join the ruling party following thorough consultations with the electorate in the municipality.
Now, different politicians in Bunyoro have expressed their views on Amanyire’s decision to defect to the ruling NRM Party.
Godwin Angalia Kasigwa, the Kibaale Resident District Commissioner, said some people join the opposition political parties without knowing or understanding their missions and targets.
Angalia, who was formerly the National Unity Platform (NUP) Coordinator for Bunyoro Sub Region before defecting to the ruling party, added that the opposition political parties are not after liberating this country apart from the NRM, which is not selective and welcomes every individual from different political parties.
He therefore welcomed Amanyire to the mighty ruling NRM party.
Fredrick Banage Bitamale, the Masindi District FDC Chairman, said that the party members have a right to defect or stay. Banage noted that no one is stronger than the party, and they will continue recruiting new members.
However, Rogers Wycliffe Kasaija, who intends to contest for the Bujenje County MP seat in 2026 under the NUP ticket, stressed that the NRM has disorganized political parties and created mistrust among members, to the extent that confused members are now running around, forgetting the values that made them join those political parties in the first place.
Kasaija believes that Amanyire had values that he admired about FDC, which made him a member in the first place, but he questions whether the values changed.
According to him, NRM interfered in the affairs of FDC by bringing in dirty money, stressing that now FDC and NRM look alike in terms of stealing public funds; hence, he can easily move from FDC to NRM without regard to the values he enshrined before.
Kasaija, however, says that Amanyire’s move is bad for the opposition but equally bad for NRM because a weak opposition cannot adequately act as a check on the excesses of NRM.
Patrick Musinguzi, an FDC member from Hoima, recalls when he left NRM and Amanyire called him for lunch. ‘’Amanyire told me that I have made the right choice to join the FDC, and we had a conversation about the struggle and how the FDC is the only political party Ugandans should trust in bringing about a peaceful transition for Uganda.’’
In his opinion, Musinguzi thinks that Amanyire made the wrong choice to join NRM because he thinks whatever made him leave NRM to join FDC hasn’t yet changed.
‘’The high youth unemployment, high poverty in Uganda, too much corruption, etc. All those issues haven’t changed, and I’m sure it’s the reason why I left NRM before joining FDC, and I’m sure many Ugandans are still experiencing the same issues,’’ he said, adding, ‘’However, I respect my brother; the choice he made in joining back the NRM could have an impact on the NRM.’’
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