The opposition Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party has revealed plans for an extensive mobilization and recruitment campaign, specifically targeting students from secondary schools to universities. Jack Sabiiti, the FDC party chairman, emphasized the importance of increasing party membership and announced a focus on establishing branches in schools.
Addressing FDC leaders from Tooro and Rwenzori sub-regions in Fort Portal City, Sabiiti stated, “This time we are putting much emphasis on recruiting the youth in the party, and we want to have many branches in schools.” He instructed district party leaders to initiate youth recruitment, highlighting ongoing efforts by the top party leadership to develop a system for handling school recruitment.
Sabiiti emphasized the historical trend of many current party members joining during their educational years.
During the reconciliation meeting, Sabiiti urged leaders to avoid divisive politics and emphasized the importance of choosing political affiliations based on ideology rather than factors like religion or culture.
Leaders from the Tooro and Rwenzori sub-regions raised concerns about the party’s relatively lower membership at the village level compared to other parties. They attributed this challenge to a lack of mobilization resources.
Joseph Kyarugonza, the party secretary-general for Kabarole District, called on top party leadership to engage at the grassroots level to kickstart recruitment efforts. He highlighted the need for offices in districts for better coordination and expressed that limited resources hinder local leaders’ effective mobilization.
“We need to facilitate our members at the grassroots to move to other places and start mobilization and recruitment. Some areas are in hard-to-reach places, and some candidates in the 2021 election in rural communities were not supported by the party, which we appeal to change in the next election,” Kyarugonza added.
