For Elias Lukwago and the FDC Katonga faction, a list of dreadful days just got longer. Quite where this ranks is a moot point, but it was wretched, both shocking and yet familiar. Outmaneuvered by the Electoral Commission, the faction again looked disjointed and incoherent.

The latest setback the rejection of their proposed party, People’s Front for Freedom (PFF)  was a stark reminder that ambition, when built on fragile foundations, can crumble into delusion.

Recently, Lukwago claimed that FDC Katonga had turned a corner. Instead, this latest failure feels like a continuation of past struggles a cycle of defeat and disappointment.

An eighth failed attempt at registration underlines how far they have fallen. FDC Katonga’s new hierarchy can talk of transforming Ugandan politics, but they are already lagging behind rivals, stuck in the bottom tier with a negative political capital.

The Electoral Commission’s verdict may not lie. Just as other opposition parties have outmaneuvered FDC Katonga, the Commission exposed the gulf between the faction’s aspirations and reality.

Lukwago’s blueprint, once promising, now seems built on delusion. Inconsistency and poor strategy have plagued the faction for months. Their recruitment policy, touted as a game-changer, has yielded little.

The emblematic moment for the faction came when they failed to resolve the PFF naming and color issues. Lukwago’s reaction, directing his frustration at the Electoral Commission, was a symptom of deeper problems: passive for too long, they were petulant at times, their attempts to register PFF verging on desperate.

By then, however, the game was over. FDC Katonga’s plans had fallen apart, their ambitions now seeming like a distant dream.