The Electoral Commission (EC) has cleared Besigye’s Katonga faction to proceed with the registration process of their new party, the People’s Front for Freedom (PFF).

The secretary to the Electoral Commission, Leonard Mulekwah, in his letter dated October 2, 2024, directed the promoters of PFF to proceed with the application to register PFF.

“This is to introduce to you the promoters of PFF to collect signatures in support of the registration of the political party,” Mulekwah stated.

The clearance follows threats by PFF promoters to sue the commission over delayed clearance to start the process of registering their new party.

He stated that the commission processes registration within 6 months in line with Section 7(11) of the Political Parties and Organizations Act, and the signature collection exercise should be accomplished by January 3, 2025.

According to the commission, it first declined to issue registration forms to PFF promoters, saying that their name closely resembles that of the People Power Front, and this is likely to bring about confusion.

According to Mulekwah, the choice of white and royal blue as colors, closely resembles that of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) and is likely to confuse the general public.

The PFF promoters responded to the Electoral Commission, stating that there is no resemblance in colors between royal blue and sky blue used by FDC. The promoters claimed to have an attachment to royal blue and that they wouldn’t change it.

Besigye’s Katonga faction resolved to start a new political party following a dispute between Besigye, FDC party president Patrick Amuriat, and secretary general Nandala Mafabi over ‘dirty money’ that the party used during the 2021 general election. Besigye alleged that the money used to fund Amuriat’s election was got from incumbent president Museveni.