Nathan Nandala Mafabi received money from President Yoweri Kaguta Tibuhaburwa Museveni and State House, Dr Kizza Besigye told a committee investigating the allegations within the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party.
When he appeared before the Committee, Nandala Mafabi, who is the FDC Secretary General, denied receiving any money from State House.
According to the report from the committee investigating the allegations, Nandala Mafabi explained that towards the 2021 General Elections the Party was in a financial crisis as it needed close to Shs2.7bn, excluding the cost for printing posters and financing candidates.
Mafabi also accused Besigye of failing to help the FDC raise funds.
“The National Executive Committee authorized him to borrow funds to run the Party activities during that period and he produced an extract of the minutes where he was authorized,” read the report in part.
“He further averred that in the process of looking for money they approached Dr. Besigye to help them raise the money. Instead Dr. Besigye asked them to prepare the budget which they did but he never got back to them.”
That even when the money was at some point delivered to Besigye, he remained suspicious.
“The account of Hon. Mafabi is in consonance with the submission of Hon. Ekanya, Mr. Kyambadde and Eng. Amuriat who all confirmed that NEC authorized Hon. Mafabi to borrow money but also averred that they knew the money was obtained from legitimate sources. Hon. Mafabi tendered before the Committee a bank statement from Kyambogo Stanbic Bank where the money that was delivered to Dr. Besigye was withdrawn,” the report further read.
“In principle, Dr.Besigye was not wrong to seek clarification on the sources of money for promoting transparency in the Party. He was not also wrong to table the matter in the Busabala meetings, but Busabala’s failure to resolve the matter was unfortunate. If it had resolved the matter, Dr.Besigye would have not raised it in the National Council meeting.”
Reading like a regurgitation of the defenses from Nandala Mafabi and Party President Patrick Oboi Amuriat, the report also parrots the view that some sensitive sources of money should not be revealed.
“The Committee further notes the long standing practice in the FDC of not disclosing all the sources of its money. This is also the practice in many political parties across the world. It is therefore difficult to abandon it given the little income which can be raised from the FDC members. Therefore, there is need for the Party to review how it will continue to work with its private funders Vis-à-vis covert sources and public image.”
Seeking to narrow the current chaos in FDC as having its roots in the dispute between Besigye and Nandala Mafabi over the money, the report captures part of Besigye’s evidence.
Relying on his reliable sources from State House, Besigye insisted that he was almost certain that Mafabi had received Shs300m from State House.
Besigye also claimed that he had serial numbers of the notes which tracked the money to State House.
“The disagreement stemmed from the fact that Hon. Mafabi asked Dr. Besigye to keep for him Uganda Shillings 300 million for the agents. In turn Dr. Besigye was allegedly contacted by a source from State House saying there was some money received by some FDC Party leaders from State House,” the elders noted in their report.
“This made Dr. Besigye to cause a meeting with some of the leaders who were directly concerned about the matter but that meeting and other subsequent meetings did not yield results. Dr. Besigye stated before the Committee that money released from Bank of Uganda is dispatched to three entities i.e. commercial banks, security agencies and State House. He further averred that he also took the initiative to find out and the serial numbers on the new notes he received pointed to State House.”
As we have reported before the current chaos was sparked by Besigye’s suspicion on the money kept at Besigye’s home. Nandala Mafabi and Patrick Amuriat are accused of receiving money from Museveni to fight Bobi Wine and sell FDC to Museveni’s NRM. (See Details Here, There and Over There).
Meanwhile, Nandala Mafabi has spoken out on reports that Museveni has promised to give him Bank of Uganda Governor job. (Read His Response Here).
It remains to be seen if the report will restore calm and sanity at FDC. Ahead of the National Council meeting, there was chaos as goons raided the FDC headquarters at Najjanankumbi, beating up delegates with sticks and throwing stones at them. (See Details Here).
(For advertising, sponsored content or story tips, send us a Whatsapp message on +256 705 690 819 or E-mail us on pearltimesug@gmail.com).
