FDC for parallel Labour Day celebrations in Buikwe

PIC: FDC party deputy spokesperson Paul Mwiru. (File photo)

LABOUR DAY

Opposition political party Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) is to hold parallel Labour Day celebrations in Buikwe district.

Uganda will Tuesday join the rest of the world to mark International Labour Day - observed every May 1 - structured under the theme, 'Promoting the public spirit in the Public sector'.

President Yoweri Museveni is expected to preside over as the chief guest at the national celebrations in Sembabule district.

FDC party deputy spokesperson Paul Mwiru told reporters at  their weekly press briefing in Kampala on Monday that they planned to mark the day to identify with the plight of the workers in the country.

When contacted, Police spokesperson Emilian Kayima said: "I am not aware of that arrangement yet."

Mwiru said they had invited Police and other security agencies to attend their function if they wished.

FDC has often dodged and dismissed the observation of national and international days as wastage of public funds by the NRM government.

They dismissed the national celebrations in Sembabule, arguing it will be a mere accountability tool for government officials to swindle public funds through allowances and other concocted expenditures.

Mwiru said FDC had resolved to have their parallel celebrations in the new Njeru Municipality to, among others, honour ex-workers in the former industrial town of Jinja.

The party also intends to use the occasion as an opportunity to launch its grand political activities and identify candidates ahead of the elections in the new municipality.

The Electoral Commission is set to hold elections for the newly created municipalities, town councils and sub-counties in 45 districts between this month and July.

FDC has also invited other Opposition players, including the Democratic Party (DP), Uganda People's Congress (UPC), Conservative Party (CP) and JEEMA.

According to Mwiru, all have since confirmed they would attend the function.

FDC also announced it would be launching the alternative labour it alleged would be supportive to the Ugandan economy and multi-sectorial in nature, faulting government over lack of one.

"As FDC, we strive to ensure all workers in the civil service and the public sector benefit from their efforts," Mwiru said.

Habib Buwembo, the party's secretary for labour, said they would address issues to do with minimum wage, labour laws, equity between the local and foreign investors and prioritszation of the production sector.

He said that FDC was much more concerned with the mistreatment subjected to workers in both the civil services and the private sector and appealed to Government to do more on the rights of workers.

Buwembo said that the situations such as labourers being harassed on duty including journalists, many working without appointment letters, and contracts among others deserved condemnation.

"You have heard of modern slavery cases in the exported labour, where exported young ladies and agents are sold in the markets as commodities," he said.