FDC, UPC reluctant to sign new IPOD MoU

The National Unity Platform (NUP) party, also the largest opposition party in Parliament, has again made it clear that they will not join the Interparty Organisation for Dialogue (IPOD).

Only four political parties including the National Resistance Movement (NRM), Justice Forum (JEEMA), Democratic Party (DP), and the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) have signed a fresh MoU with IPOD.

Frank Rusa, the Executive Secretary of IPOD, who also doubles as the Country Representative of IPOD funders, the Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy (NIMD) says the NUP reiterated its decision to refrain from the IPOD which it accuses of being a mere association with people who occasionally meet and share a cup of tea and not deliver on any meaningful issues affecting the people of Uganda. NUP says the NRM doesn’t respect democracy.

FDC, UPC Reluctant to sign new IPOD MoU

But Rusa explains that the new MoU introduces a resolution implementation committee, which is intended to follow up on resolutions taken by the IPOD parties such that they are implemented by the responsible organs of the government.

Rusa also says that the FDC and UPC are yet to sign the MoU.

According to Rusa, the FDC President communicated that the party was conducting Internal consultations on whether to continue being part of IPOD while the UPC still has reservations based on IPOD resolutions pending implementation. 

The FDC Spokesperson, Kira Municipality Member of Parliament, Ibrahim Semujju Nganda, says that the appropriate organs of the party shall take the final decision on whether to sign the new MoU.

FDC has often accused the NRM of failing to implement the resolutions passed by IPOD through the Council of Secretaries General and the Summit, of top heads of Political Parties. 

One of the resolutions as regards the Public Order Management Act (POMA 2013), an order by the government, stops members of the opposition from holding large meetings.

Rusa says the final MoU, to be unveiled in September, will be operationalised immediately. The MoU will run from 2022 to 2026.