The Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party has advised President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni to resign as chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) for approving the deployment of the Uganda People’s Defense Forces (UPDF) in Gaza, which allegedly contradicts the principles of NAM.

According to Hassan Kaps Fungaroo, the Deputy President of FDC in charge of Northern Uganda and also Obongi Constituency MP, Uganda’s participation in a U.S.-designed force betrays the legacy of the Global South in the fight against Western Domination and weakens the collective voice of the Global South on the Palestinian question.

“Uganda is a Member and currently the Chair of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) for the 2024–2027 terms. This leadership position carries significant diplomatic and moral responsibility. The decision to deploy UPDF troops to Gaza under a U.S.-designed military framework directly contradicts the foundational principles of NAM and openly marks Uganda as an ally of the USA,” Fungaroo said.

He also condemned the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Thomas Tayebwa, for rushing the parliamentary proceedings, which gave legislators limited time to debate the deployment of UPDF in Gaza to update the public.

To Fungarroo, the Deputy Speaker would give the legislators a chance to scrutinize the recent UPDF deployments in different parts of the world such as Somalia, DRC, South Sudan and Central Africa before approving the deployment in Gaza.

“We needed to understand the Memorandum of Understanding between the government and the soldiers going to Gaza because we had incidents where soldiers from such missions are paid peanuts or not paid at all. This has resulted in the suffering of ex-war fighters with a heavy debt burden, especially those who come back with permanent damages,” he said.

However, the government has continued to justify UPDF’s deployment in Gaza as a fulfillment of its constitutional mandate to promote international peace and an opportunity to contribute its peacekeeping expertise to a multinational stabilization effort.

The government cited Objective XIII of the National Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy, Article 210(d) of the Constitution, and Section 38 of the UPDF Act, which empower the state and the President with parliamentary approval to participate in international peace and security operations.

On the other hand, some politicians have urged that the government’s move to deploy UPDF in Gaza is nothing else but a step to create more enemies Uganda can’t fight.