DP at Heart, a pressure group within the opposition Democratic Party, has cautioned the party president general, also the justice and constitutional affairs minister, Norbert Mao, against attending a retreat of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM), warning that the move could undermine the party’s independence.
The group led by the former president of the Uganda Young Democrats, Ismael Kirya, said they have formally notified President Museveni in his capacity as both head of state and NRM chairman of what they described as a grave constitutional and political concern.
He noted that the NRM caucus is an internal partisan organ of the ruling party, not a national platform for opposition participation. Any attempt by the DP leader to seek entry into this forum is irregular, unacceptable, and a direct affront to the independence of the long-serving Party.
Kirya added that Mao does not have the mandate of party members, delegates, or stakeholders of the Democratic Party to engage in or participate in the internal structures of the NRM, and if he does, it will be on his own, insisting that any engagements between political parties must occur through transparent and formal channels.
