Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago has said FDC president Patrick Amuriat and secretary general Nandala Mafabi are panicking after the financial scandal broke last month.

“They are clearly in a dilemma about how to tackle this ugly situation they are in right now. The gravity of the accusations against them and the vote of no confidence against them by not only Dr Kizza Besigye, but also the majority of the party members means that their political future is now hanging by a thread,” he said.

Lukwago, who is also the FDC (Forum for Democratic Change) deputy president for Buganda region, laughed off the questions about appearing before the party’s disciplinary committee during an interview with New Vision Online on Wednesday, August 9, 2023.

In an August 8 letter to the FDC disciplinary committee chairperson, James Otto, Amuriat accuses Lukwago and six other leaders of being hostile towards their party and absconding from duty. The accused also include Kira Municipality MP and FDC spokesperson Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda.

‘Never appointed me’

Lukwago said Amuriat’s letter is “a clear manifestation of the ugly situation he is in right now”.

“He is already panicking because he never expected to be in that kind of situation. He doesn’t even know what to do, but it is understandable because he is facing a hard time. I doubt his comprehension of the party constitution because if he insinuates that he is the one who appointed me, I find it weird and awkward because I was never appointed by him; I was appointed by the National Executive Committee,” he said.

In his letter to Otto, Amuriat said all the accused seven party leaders were appointed by him on an acting basis except Ssemujju and Amon Ayesigomwe (secretary for works and transport), who were elected by the national delegates’ conference.

However, Lukwago said Amuriat should “stop claiming that he is the one who appointed me because he doesn’t have those powers”.

“He has no powers to appoint or sack me. Then he talks about the disciplinary committee, the disciplinary committee is supposed to be constituted by the delegates’ conference and not by him. So, as we talk right now that disciplinary committee has not been constituted,” he said.

He challenged Amuriat to mention other members of the disciplinary committee.

“As an individual, Amuriat doesn’t have the powers to constitute the disciplinary committee and more so if you look at that letter, he is appointing one person — Otto, who is the Dokolo LC5 chairperson, but which disciplinary committee comprises only one person?” he asked.

Lukwago asked Amuriat to apologise for following the order of seniority in appointing Otto to chair a committee to discipline him.

“Otto is the chairman LC5 and, therefore, junior to the Lord Mayor and deputy party president. So he can’t even summon me. It is actually an insult to me for Amuriat to purport that he can appoint an individual to discipline me (laughs) and he should apologise to me,” he stated.