Trouble: Banks reject FDC Katonga faction plans to block party accounts.

Banks have rejected the request of the FDC Katonga faction to block the FDC party Accounts.

In an Exclusive interview with us, the secretary general of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), Nathan Nandala Mafabi, responded to efforts made by Kampala City Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago’s group to prevent access to the party’s bank accounts. 

Nandala Mafabi stated that the attempts to block the bank accounts would not succeed and compared it to someone trying to block the Bank of Uganda’s accounts.

Nandala Mafabi mentioned, “The blocking of the bank accounts can’t take place. It is like somebody on the road saying he is going to block the accounts of Bank of Uganda. You block them as who?” He further added, “Those are just wishful thinkers. Lukwago always thinks he can get power without contesting and that is what he was doing in the Democratic Party, but he is joking. So none of them has the capacity to block the bank accounts.”

Lukwago’s group recently communicated with dfcu and Centenary banks, where the party holds its accounts, regarding the management of these accounts. Lukwago’s group advised the banks to refrain from conducting transactions with Nathan Nandala Mafabi and the FDC treasurer general, Geoffrey Ekanya.

Lukwago stated on September 25, 2023, “We have the secretary general (Mafabi) and the treasurer (Ekanya) as signatories to the party accounts who are in suspension. As long as they remain in suspension, their signatures on those accounts cannot be valid.” This announcement was made during a press conference at the offices of FDC’s founding president, Dr. Kizza Besigye, in Kampala.

It’s worth noting that Erias Lukwago, who also serves as FDC deputy president for the Buganda region, was appointed interim president for six months by the party’s extraordinary national delegates’ conference on September 19, 2023. This conference, convened by FDC national chairman Wasswa Birigwa, suspended Mafabi and the party president Patrick Amuriat, along with Ekanya and Boniface Bamwenda, the party’s electoral commission chairperson, accusing them of betraying the party.

Despite their suspension, all the officials vowed to continue their roles within the party. Lukwago also mentioned that they had filed a civil suit in the High Court against Bamwenda for various charges related to his role in the party.

The Amuriat camp plans to hold elections for the party’s executive committee members during the national delegates’ conference scheduled for October 6. 

Both Amuriat and Nandala were recently nominated to retain their positions in the party, as was Ekanya.