Uganda’s opposition party has planned and is still planning to remove the current regime of the ruling party, National Resistance Movement [NRM] before 2021 polls.
These plans, according to Leader of Opposition [LoP] in the 10th Parliament, Honorable Betty Aol Ochan will see regime captured without ‘shedding blood and scattering human skulls’.
According to LoP, the regime currently fears opposition political parties – especially Forum for Democratic Change [FDC] party which she says has in recent months, have had its leaders denied accessing other districts in the country to hold meetings.
“Going to the public scares this regime so much. Removing a dictator is not easy and you have to apply many strategies,” MP Aol was speaking in an exclusive interviews with TND News’ Milton Akwam in her office at Parliament on Tuesday afternoon.
She adds: “The elections for now, until we push for electoral reforms and constitutional review committees are in place – which is very urgent matter, we should stop calling Uganda Electoral Commission an independent body, they are lenient to one side.”
According to Aol, Uganda’s interests has often been left out, citing the 2017 constitutional amendment which now allows incumbent President Yoweri Museveni, who has been in power since 1986, to rule for perpetuity.
She adds that, “Where they deny us our interest, we should also get other means.”
“For President Museveni, he lost an election in his area and said he would go to the bush; he went. As FDC party, we don’t want to go to the bush because we don’t want to see peoples’ skull everywhere,” she told Ugandans.
Like FDC party President, Patrick Amuriat Oboi said recently that Ugandans should be ready to cause change whenever they are called upon, the Gulu district Woman MP strongly agrees.
“If they will use teargas, we can always tolerate; some of us have eyes which are already spoiled. Am not saying teargas is good but what can we do?” she declares.
Uniting opposition.
She reveals that whereas the current opposition is ‘united’, there are those who are silently working with and for the regime and obtaining huge funds.
“If we plan it well we can manage. One thing people think is that parliament has money. Leaders must first accept to stay on cause. Even if the money looks so sweet, we don’t need this money to put us in a very awkward position, we should not allow that to happen by being strong and focused; and principled and flowing what you believe in,” MP Aol told this contemporary online newspaper .
“Some people who don’t know think opposition must go out and give out money. Ours is advocacy. The money I dish somewhere is controlled by the ruling party. As opposition, we make people know the roles of the opposition and if tomorrow NRM becomes an opposition, it won’t buy medicine, it won’t give out money because it’s for tax payers,” she further asserts.
Remembering some of the renowned oppositions’ top female bigwigs whom she worked with prior, namely Beatrice Anywar – the Kitgum Municipality MP who has crossed to NRM party, Betty Kamya who was FDC envoy before she departed to form her Uganda federal Alliance, only to abandon it and join NRM, Rebecca Amugeo Otengo – the current Uganda’s ambassador in Ethiopia, Aol said the trio were great opposition members in the country.
“Beatrice Anywar was a strong opposition member – is that the reason she changed?” We had Honorable Rebecca Otengo who stood in the floor of parliament and gave good debate, now she’s the ambassador and Kamya was a strong FDC member,” she recalls, adding: “If we say we have a common goal, then we as opposition cannot be divided.”