Radio Rhino
Uganda Peoples Congress
National Secretariat
Party Headquarters, Uganda House,
Plot 8-10 Kampala Road, P. O. Box 9206, Kampala
phone/Fax:+256-41-236748
Communication From The Chair By UPC Party President Mama Miria Kalule Obote At The UPC Central Executive Committee Held At Uganda House On 26th May 2007
26 May 2007
1) Introduction:
Fellow Congressmen and Women, it gives me great pleasure to welcome you all to this our very first meeting of the UPC CEC since the return to the multiparty system of governance, after 20 years of being in limbo as a party, occasioned by the movement system of governance.
I would like to congratulate you for surviving and to thank all of you for being steadfast and remaining true to your party. Many of our members have died and some decided to join other parties for various reasons. Some of you may recall the fundamental objective of the NRM struggle, which was to kill all parties, especially UPC. In their bush war constitution it is stated in the aims and objectives thus: "Only NRM is allowed to operate in the country such that the other political parties; i.e., UPC, DP, CP, and NLP will cease to exist as required by the revolution".
In those bush war objectives UPC was particularly singled out and targeted, as indicated in Objective 1.1 and 1.2. 1.1 states: "Removal of UPC/Obote's dictatorship by force of arms". And 1.2 "The establishment, by force if necessary, of a one party "PopularDemocracy" in Uganda under the NRM".
As you have all witnessed through the years, the NRM/A followed their objectives to the letter. Strongholds of UPC have witnessed terror and horrendous atrocities in the hands of the NRM/A coupled with a calculated economic disempowerment. We should therefore not be surprised by the machination of the regime to try to kill off UPC, but rather work to avert it.
We pay special tribute to the visionary party leadership, especially late party president, that pre-empted these events and improvised party structures in order to circumvent the diabolic plans of the detractors and their agents. Otherwise, we may have witnessed the death of the party and a lot more of its members.
2) Funeral and the Last Funeral Rights of the late Dr. A.M. Obote
I would like to use this opportunity to thank all of you here present and all others, who attended and actively participated in both the funeral and the last funeral rites of the late Party President, Dr. A.M Obote. Special thanks go to those who arranged both ceremonies and those who contributed both in kind and cash. May I kindly ask you all to rise as we observe a minute of silence in memory of the late Party President and all our other members who passed away in the years gone by.
3) My Election as Party President
May I also use this opportunity to heartily thank those who voted for me at the Annual Delegates Conference of 20th November 2005 and made it possible for me to serve as the UPC Party President and its flag bearer in the 2006 presidential elections.
4) 2006 General Elections
I would like to reiterate my appreciation to all our party members who presented themselves for parliamentary and local council elections on UPC ticket. I would like to thank the members of staff and party officials at the Headquarters who handled the campaigns diligently, and all the polling agents, and most importantly all those who voted for us. We are grateful for all the support. In the same vein I once again congratulate all our MPs, LCV Chairmen and Councillors who made it to the respective levels.
Our performance in the elections at all levels was dictated upon by various challenges that are contained in a separate report by the Election Evaluation Committee.
5) Performance of NEC
Since I assumed leadership of the party, the NEC has been involved in a number of activities, inter alia;
I) After carefully assessing the prevailing political conditions and party operations, the NEC set up various committees, namely;
- Election Evaluation Committee chaired by Mr. Charles Orwamo.
- Secretariat Restructuring Committee was established to streamline the operations at Secretariat. This was chaired by Hon. Wagonda Muguli.
- Party Promotion Committee was set up and tasked to look into ways of enhancing the Party's image and market it. This was chaired by Mr. Paul Erongot.
- Constitutional Review Committee which was conceived as early as July 1997 by the late Party President with some far-reaching recommendations became operational during the period of CSC, and it completed its work. A draft has been presented to NEC.
- Reconciliation Committee was set up to address the differences and conflicts that arose as a result of protracted abeyance imposed by the NRM. This Committee was under the chairmanship of the Party President.
Each of the committees made reports which are available.
II) In line with the objective of mainstreaming the youth and women in the party as today's dominant groups in the population, mobilization and sensitisation activities are being carried out. For instance regional seminars have been successfully held in Gulu for Northern, Soroti for Eastern and Mityana for Central. Soon there will be one in Bushenyi for Western. Similar programs are slated for women with follow up activities.
III) As a follow-up of the recommendations of the Secretariat Restructuring Committee the recruitment of a skeletal staff to man the different departments has been done. Some basic equipment such as computers, printers, has also been procured to ease operations. This has enabled the secretariat to be linked to the Internet to ease communication. These are by no means adequate for smooth operations at the headquarters, and the ultimate aim is to have all the district offices connected to the Internet.
IV) A pilot project targeting the four districts of Gulu, Mbale, Kayunga and Mbarara has been developed. It is intended to set up fully operational district offices. The project would then be rolled out to all the districts in phases.
V) In line with the recommendations of the Election Evaluation Committee, a need to develop a party strategic plan to prepare for 2011 arose. Preliminary work had been done before elections which became formed the basis of the subsequent work. The strategic plan was effectively launched on …… during a regional meeting with Buganda party leaders in Kampala. The task now is to widely disseminate and ensure the implementation of the plan.
VI) As a party, UPC has had strong links with like-minded parties namely CCM, ANC, Indian National Congress, FNLM of Algeria, etc which fell under a broader grouping of Socialists International. The party is working towards renewing its membership to Socialists International and also to re-establish bi-lateral relationship with the aforementioned parties.
6) Challenges
The party's major challenge is the implementation of the strategic plan. The constraints in the implementation include financial and trained manpower. Some of the issues that are in the strategic plan relate to:
- redefining the party ideology
- recruiting massive membership
- re-establishment and strengthening of party structures from the lowest level
- recruiting and integrating the youth into the party
- mainstreaming gender
- developing effective, committed, accountable and collective leadership
- developing effective, efficient and transparent internal communication system
- developing shared values of selflessness, respect, collective responsibilities, loyalty and a sense of belonging
- enhance the party image
- develop campaign structures
- resource mobilization
7) Clarion call
Our great Party has been founded on selflessness and commitment, where all members contributed in the development and realisation of the objectives of the Party. At this moment, the UPC stands as not only the potentially most viable political Party in Uganda but also the only hope for the peasants, workers, youth and women. I therefore call on all of you, as leaders of a great Party to provide pragmatic and dynamic leadership to our membership and the country at large. Though the agenda is heavy, if we remain focussed and orderly, we should be able to effectively complete it within the timeframe. I wish you fraternal and good deliberations.
For God and my Country
Miria Kalule Obote
President