IPOD COUNCIL RECOMMENDS ADMISSION OF PFF

PFF leaders during meeting at their headquarters in Kampala

NILE POST

The IPOD governing council has unanimously recommended admitting the People’s Front for Freedom, paving the way for the party to formally join the dialogue platform at its next summit.

The Inter-Party Organisation for Dialogue (IPOD) governing council has unanimously recommended the admission of the People’s Front for Freedom (PFF), paving the way for the opposition party to formally join the organisation.

PFF became a parliamentary party after winning two seats in the January 2026 general elections, making it eligible to participate in IPOD. Its admission, however, has been delayed amid disagreements over the conditions for joining the organisation and the issues the party wanted discussed by the IPOD leadership.

IPOD Executive Director Lawrence Sserwambala said the council had considered PFF’s expression of interest and agreed to recommend its admission.

“The council considered their expression of interest and unanimously agreed to recommend the admission of PFF into the IPOD fold,” Sserwambala said.

He said IPOD had formally written to PFF informing the party of the decision and outlining the next steps ahead of the organisation’s summit, where membership is expected to be formally confirmed.

“Right now we have officially written to the party informing them of the council resolution and what the next processes are, especially regarding admission, which is a sole responsibility of the IPOD summit,” he said.

PFF National Chairperson Wasswa Birigwa said the party had wanted specific issues to be tabled at the summit as part of its considerations for joining IPOD.

“What we were requesting is that if we are to be a part of IPOD, there are certain things we feel ought to be discussed during the summit,” Birigwa said.

He cited the detention of some of the party’s leaders, the situation of opposition figures in exile and what he described as state action against PFF leaders.

IPOD, however, maintains that PFF cannot determine the summit agenda before it becomes a member of the organisation.

According to Sserwambala, the agenda is generated by the IPOD council, in which PFF does not currently participate.

“The summit agenda is generated by the IPOD council. Considering that PFF is not a part of IPOD, they do not participate in council and summit meetings. It is only when they are in that they can influence the agenda,” he said.

He said other IPOD member parties were aware of developments in the country and could raise issues that PFF wanted discussed.

“Other political parties in IPOD are not oblivious of what is happening in the country. They are stakeholders and I am sure that the agenda will reflect probably all that PFF may have wanted to be in there,” Sserwambala said.

PFF is among the parliamentary parties that have been seeking admission to IPOD. The National Unity Platform and Alliance for National Transformation have also been involved in the recent admission process.

Recent IPOD discussions have included conditions surrounding participation in the organisation, with membership also linked to access to government funding under amendments to the Political Parties and Organisations Act.

The next step will be for IPOD secretaries general to consult their respective party presidents and agree on a date for the next summit, where the membership of the new parties is expected to be formalised.

Written by newsroom-radiopacis