ANT chief coordinator Muntu in Gulu.
GULU, Uganda—The Alliance for National Transformation (ANT), the party launched in March and headed by former Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) president, Mugisha Muntu, a retired general, has launched a campaign to mobilize resources from Ugandans in diaspora in preparation for the 2021 general election.
Gen. Muntu also revealed that his party is in talks with the youthful legislator in Uganda’s parliament and founder of the Peoples’ Power Movement (PPM), Robert Ssentamu Kyagulanyi, a.k.a. Bobi Wine, to form an alliance.
ANT is hopeful that Ugandans living in the diaspora will contribute in policy formulation to shape the political party and also support it financially. The party’s initiative was revealed during the induction of the party’s coordinators in Acholi sub-region where over 1,000 participants attended.
Gen. Muntu, the National Coordinator of ANT, was on a countrywide mobilization tour in Gulu on Monday December 16. He said the party will establish ANT chapters in all major countries and cities in Europe, in America, and other parts of the world. “We would want to have a chapter in South Africa, United States where we will have chapters in different cities, and states like New York, California and Boston,” Muntu said. “We hope that the diaspora can work with ANT so that they can put in their thoughts in policy formulation and also to back up, in terms of financial resources because they are the ones who convinced me that this organization is credible, that it can take power, manage it well. Yeah. They have good financial resources.”
Muntu, Uganda’s former army commander, has credibility as a politician who also is respected by members of the armed forces. He said Ugandans in the diaspora believe in countries where there are good governance principles. He believes that they would be key in ensuring that such principles are also planted, nurtured, and fully established in Uganda.
Barbara Allimadi, the ANT coordinator for diaspora, revealed that ANT has so far established structures in Germany, the United Arab Emirates and the U.S.; work to set up structures in Kenya and Canada is underway. Allimadi adds that during their engagement with the Ugandans in the diaspora, most of them expressed interests in voting in the 2021 general elections. “They want to be able to vote,” Allimadi said. “They don’t see any reason why this cannot be put in place. Is it because the government is afraid that they cannot manage the election the way they do here? In some cases, you will see that they will use the police or the army to manage some of the election process; but you cannot do that in the diaspora.” She notes that some in diaspora have expressed concern that without good governance in Uganda, investment in their own home country carries risk since in case of upheavals.
Kenneth Olanya, ANT coordinator of Acholi sub–region says they are building the party for the betterment of the nation and they don’t give false hope to the masses. He also asked the party leaders to preach the party ideologies of grassroots empowerment to the local community.
Martin Okumu, the head of research and policy in ANT, cautioned the party leaders against infighting and the use of abusive language during the forthcoming election period. He says ANT believes in “respect” and “dignity” qualities that have been lacking in Uganda’s politics.
The mobilization tour of ANT party leaders, which will see them traverse every corner of the country to train its coordinators is in a bid to strengthen the party grassroots structures to enable the party to defeat the 34 year autocratic rule of President Yoweri Museveni and his National Resistance Movement (NRM).
