UGANDA PATRIOTIC MOVEMENT
In 1980, a new political party, the Uganda Patriotic Movement (UPM) had been formed under the leadership of Mr. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni. Its membership and leadership were composed of elements from the Fronasa (Front for National Salvation).
Fronasa had been a follow-up to the student movement of the 1960s that had been patronized by Obote after the 1966 crisis. It had also participated in the anti-Amin struggles. The UPM was also composed of NCC members who rejected the old parties and wanted elections under the UNLF umbrella. With its motto of “Clean leadership, unity and peace”, the party attracted both the young and the elders like Ignatius Musaazi and Dr. Samson Kisekka.
The party performed poorly in the elections but it prepared the masses for an armed struggle should the elections be rigged. Indeed when UPC won the disputed 1980 elections Museveni and a group of compatriots launched an armed struggle against the Obote government.
THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY
The Conservative Party (CP) was formed in 1980 under the leadership Jehoash Mayanja Nkangi. Among its objectives was “To promote the federal principle of governance”. The leader had been Katikkiro to Kabaka Mutesa II so the party tended to be associated with the old Mengo establishment. The CP was one of the parties that participated in the 1980 elections.