Newly elected DP president general, Norbert Mao has warned of tough times ahead, for indisciplined party members.
Mao who was on Monday elected for a fourth term said shortly after swearing in that he will need to address the growing concerns over discipline and integrity within party ranks.
“This new term is definitely going to be a tough one for those who are indisciplined in the Democratic Party,” Mao warned.
“I want to send out a clear warning to those who think that DP is a playground—that when you come to play in DP, you will be shocked to find out that DP is a battleground.”
His comments come amidst reports that some candidates in the just-concluded internal elections were sponsored by individuals with malicious intent, aiming to undermine his leadership.
“Some people have been fishing in troubled waters. Even through this campaign we have heard people who have put money into the campaigns in DP in order to fight Mao. I have never seen this kind of money in Democratic Party campaigns ever since I became a member,” Mao said.
Despite the turbulence that marred the conference, Mao emphasized that the event was proof that DP remains alive and active after 70 years of existence.
“In case you thought the Democratic Party is no longer alive, the Mbarara National Delegates Conference has demonstrated for you that this party is alive,” he stated.
Mao also laid out a roadmap for the future, calling on members to rebuild ties with the grassroots and engage in critical dialogue about the party’s direction.
“We need to reach out to all those who have been criticizing us fairly or unfairly. We have a duty to reach out to all of them,” he said. “Secondly, we got feedback from our grassroots we need to be in touch more with our grassroots.”
He added that no topic would be off-limits in upcoming party discussions.
“We also need to start discussions on which direction DP should take. There is no topic which is out of hand—we are going to discuss everything and then we will decide as a party,” Mao emphasized.
He revealed plans to hold regional and national policy conferences, as well as an extraordinary delegates’ conference that will not involve electoral pressures.
“We will then hold regional policy conferences in every region in Uganda, after which we shall have a national policy conference,” Mao said.
“We will also hold an extraordinary National Delegates Conference without the pressure of elections to talk about the direction of DP,” he added.
However, the 12th National Delegates Conference itself was fraught with controversy. Originally scheduled to run for three days, it was riddled with tension, fights, and frustration among delegates and candidates.
Verification of delegates took two days instead of the planned one, and the process was further tainted by accusations of candidate elimination and ballot pre-ticking.
The situation was exacerbated by heavy security deployment and restricted access to the vote-counting area.
As Mao begins what he has described as a “no-nonsense” term at the helm of the Democratic Party, his message is loud and clear: indiscipline will not be tolerated, and those who test his resolve will face the consequences.
