The Chairman General, National Organization of Trade Union (NOTU), Wilson Owere, has asked the government to suspend and take action against the organization’s members who sat on Tuesday and threw him out of office.
Owere’s sacking was arrived at in a meeting of NOTU members at Hotel Africana in Kampala.
These were members across 24 Labour out of 34 Unions who voted Kabweri County MP David Stephen Mugole as Acting Chairperson, Moses Mauku as Treasurer General, Barbara Bandaru as his deputy and Richard Nigeria as General Secretary after Bubulo East MP Peter Werikhe Christopher stepped aside.
The group accuses Owere of inefficiency, dictatorship, sabotage, and mismanaging the workers’ federation.
Some members have pinned Owere of gross financial mismanagement, engaging in partisan politics and using the unions’ body for private gain.
However, Owere has dismissed all the allegations and Monday’s vote ousting him, saying the voting process was done illegally. He wants the government to stop the acts of the group to allow the organization to organize themselves.
He says an official meeting will be convened on November 22, 2022 to resolve the standoff in the organization. Owere has also asked the outgoing Secretary General who stepped aside to account for the organization’s funds before he leaves office .
“They have tried everything to undermine the organization including running to the minister to try and circumvent our calls for accountability but I can assure them we will not stop demanding for it. By the way, even some of those people who say they have been elected have not been members of Notu; they ran away from Coftu and are trying to cause confusion,” Owere said.
Owere who found the organization’s office locked managed to address the press conference outside with a section of some members of the organization.
Compiled by Rashidah Nakaayi
