Former Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) president, Rtd Col. Dr. Kizza Besigye has criticised the outcomes and recommendations of the six-man elders’ committee instituted by the party officials to investigate the ‘dirty money’ that allegedly came into the party.
According to the report presented to the National Council recently, the committee failed to get evidence about the said dirty money that is alleged to have come from President Museveni to finance FDC’s activities during the 2021 general elections.
A section of FDC leaders led by the party’s spokesperson Mr. Ssemujjun Nganda alleges that there’s an unidentified sum of money that was received by the party’s secretary general, Nandala Mafabi, and president Patrick Amuriat from Museveni. They also allege that there’s a ploy to sell the party to the ruling NRM government.
Speaking to the media at his office at Katonga this afternoon, Besigye showed disappointment that the elders committee didn’t take the initiative to investigate the allegations to the bottom line in order to establish the truth about the contentious ‘dirty money’.
He said the purpose of the committee was to investigate; how much money entered into the party, its source, its purpose, and the terms attached to its release.
However, Besigye said the committee report didn’t find facts about all these questions, yet they have evidence that the money whether from President Museveni or borrowed from somewhere entered the party.
“The presence of this ‘dirty money’ has severely hindered the functionality of the FDC party. A party operates through its organs, and the National Executive Committee is now in shambles,” he told journalists on Monday.
He testified to having received Shs300 million from Nandala Mafabi who asked him to keep it and that it was meant to cater for party agents during 2021 elections.
Besigye claims Amuriat also acknowledged having received Shs280 million from Nandala during the same period.