NCF’s Kiwanda and IPOD’s Siranda agree to work with Gen Saleh

What the report says

Uganda’s National Consultative Forum and Inter-Party Organization for Dialogue representatives have agreed to work with Gen. Salim Saleh on bringing the Consociational Democracy Agreement, or CDA, into the country’s National Dialogue framework, according to The Independent Uganda. The consultative meeting took place at Saleh’s Kirema Heritage Farm in Nakaseke and brought together NCF, IPOD, the CDA team and other stakeholders.

The joint statement after the talks was signed by NCF chairman Godfrey Kiwanda Ssuubi, IPOD council chairman Gerald Blacks Siranda and Prof. Ogenga Otunnu, who leads the CDA initiative. The participants said folding the CDA into the existing dialogue structure could support broader stakeholder engagement on political reconciliation, socioeconomic transformation and national cohesion. The report noted that the National Dialogue Framework was created under President Yoweri Museveni’s authority in 2018 and is chaired by former prime minister Ruhakana Rugunda.

The meeting was weakened by the absence of major opposition parties. The Forum for Democratic Change and the National Unity Platform did not attend, with FDC objecting to the venue and other conditions, while NUP repeated its refusal to take part in IPOD-related processes. The Independent said the CDA proposal, attributed to Saleh and Otunnu, aims to move Uganda away from a winner-takes-all electoral model toward a negotiated power-sharing approach. The development matters because it reflects ongoing efforts to widen political dialogue, even as consensus among key opposition actors remains limited.