KAMPALA – The Justice Forum Party (JEEMA) has said it cannot participate in a summit when there are human rights violations like kidnaps happening in the country and the government is yet to address the matter.
The 3rd summit of Inter-Party Organisation for Dialogue-IPOD is scheduled for Friday this week at Kololo Independence grounds and will be chaired by the National Resistance Movement- NRM Chairman Yoweri Museveni.
The summit brings together presidents of Political Parties with representation in Parliament.
While UPC, DP and NRM have confirmed attendance of the summit, the spokesperson of JEEMA Abdunoor Kyamundu flanked by the Deputy Secretary General Fredrick Kasajja Kibuuka on Wednesday, 03 March 2021 said that the Party was undecided about attending the Summit.
Kyamundu said they need to know why some resolutions made at previous summits have not been implemented. One of the resolutions is in regards to the Public Order Management Act -POMA. IPOD passed regulations to guide implementation of the Act but they have not been tabled before parliament for adoption.
Kyamundu also said they do not have the agenda of the summit. He says until all the above are addressed, the party is hesitant to participate in the upcoming summit.
Yesterday while announcing the summit, NRM’s Kasule Lumumba listed a number of issues she said the IPOD council had agreed upon to be discussed at the summit.
She said, the Summit would discuss the events witnessed in the just concluded elections such as violence, hate speech and sectarian talk among others. Also, that they would review resolutions made in the 2018 and 2019 Summits to assess progress.
But, JEEMA Deputy Secretary Fredrick Kasajja Kibuuka says the council agreed that members go back to their parties and agree on what should be discussed in the summit. He says what was suggested at the meeting was supposed to be presented to political parties for adoption, something JEEMA hasn’t done yet.
He says the NRM is rushing the process and this has made them suspicious.
IPOD is an organ that brings together parties with representation in Parliament to dialogue on issues affecting the country and political players in the country.
Current members are the National Resistance Movemenet-NRM, Democratic Party-DP, Forum for Democratic Change-FDC, Justice Forum-JEEMA and Uganda People’s Congress-UPC.
Already, the FDC announced that it would not participate in the election. It is the NRM, UPC and DP still committed to attend.
