Members of opposition political parties including Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) and Democratic Party (DP) have threatened to pull out of the National Consultative Forum (NCF) because president Museveni’s government doesn’t listen to their concerns.

The leadership of opposition parties have told us that they supported NCF in the beginning but it has now turned a nuisance and a useless platform.

NCF was set up by the 1995 Constitution of Uganda and the Political Parties and Other Organisations Act of 2005. The Secretary General of DP, Mathias Nsubuga says that the members of opposition parties are concerned that  the ruling party /government doesn’t respect freedom of assembly, funding of parties, free and fair elections, democracy, safety, security of people and tackle economic problems.

The NCF was formed to resolve disputes among parties, present views of parties to the Electoral Commission and ensure that the parties adhere to an agreed code of conduct.

Nsubuga challenged the Government to build the culture of parties working together and respect and listen to each other.

By James Okello