| KAMPALA
THE Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) chief mobiliser, Maj. Gen. Mughisha Muntu has said President Yoweri Museveni betrayed them though he does not regret being part of the National Resistance Army liberation struggle.
"We have been betrayed but still it was worth it fighting because we believed in the objectives that made us fight, Muntu said.
We have moved some distance, there is no doubt about it but we would like to make sure that we do not degenerate. That is why we have taken a position. We want to make sure that all that we fought for and the people who died in the bush war did not die for nothing.
He was speaking on Voice of America's 'Straight Talk Africa" programme hosted by Mr Shaka Ssali on Wednesday night.
Challenged by a caller that they would not be any different from Museveni who came in as a saviour and now he is clinging to power like African leaders do, Muntu said there was need to put in place a system that people can trust.
<
BR>He
said, "We need to work together to put in place a process that we can all trust and then the population can choose its leaders. If the leaders abuse that trust then they can be voted out. When that does not happen it creates scepticism. We should invest in creating a credible process."
Muntu said FDC was mobilising the population to ensure a smooth election in 2006. He said, "We are trying to put pressure on the government to ensure that we get a credible electoral process. Nevertheless if the government keeps on manipulating the process, the situation might not be as credible as we would want. Violence is one thing we want to avoid in FDC. The country has gone through a lot of violence in the last 40 years."
Muntu said FDC was "building pressure" by carrying out mobilisation at the grass root levels and "creating a critical mass so as to tilt the balance." "It is possible, it can be done we have already seen indications," he said.
Muntu, who along with
several
FDC officials are in the USA to attend the Uganda North America conference, said the party had opened branches in all the 56 districts in the country and was looking forward to opening branches in 220 constituencies.
"We see the ground shifting and the moment we create confidence in the population, it may deter the government from trying to do anything to manipulate the electoral process," he said.
Muntu said the party was on a mission to liberate people from fear so that they"can stand and resist oppression." "We have seen fear receding and we shall keep on intensifying our mobilisation efforts in all areas.
Muntu said six main opposition parties were looking at the possibility of fielding a single candidate. He said if they found that running separately as parties would overstretch the President, then they would consider that strategy also.
"We shall assess the situation on the ground that will lead us to the strategy but generally we agree on cre
ating an
alliance and cooperating fully to contest in the 2006 elections.On the northern conflict, Muntu said unlike Museveni, he personally takes responsibility for whatever went wrong during the time when he was army commander.
Muntu criticised Museveni for doing nothing about the rampant corruption in the government yet there is overwhelming evidence from commissions of inquiry.
He said if the President had the political will take action basing on the evidence and recommendations of the probes the culprits would have been tried in the courts of law.
He also blamed the government for doing nothing to bolster the criminal investigations department of the Police, yet at the same time the institution of the Inspector General of government was "systematically being weakened."
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