The inside war between the two National Resistance Movement bigwigs- Speaker of Parliament Rebbeca Kadaga and government Chief Whip Ruth Nankabirwa is escalating day by day as the party heads to its primaries.
The fight picked momentum last week during the party’s Central Executive Committee ( CEC) meeting where the two attacked each other in front of their supreme leader Gen Yoweri Museveni.
The Kiboga Woman Member of Parliament made it a duty to publicly oppose her Kamuli counterpart by supporting her opponent- Lands minister Persis Namuganza.
Kadaga and Namuganza are contesting for the 2nd national vice-chairperson (female) position on the NRM CEC. However, the two women have for the last two years enjoyed a frosty relationship right from a 2018 disagreement over the traditional leadership of Busoga kingdom.
And Nankabirwa’s attack could resurrect the old anger and rage from the two sides but especially in Kadaga’s camp.
In the recent WhatsApp voice, Nankabirwa is heard campaigning for Namuganza by accusing Kadaga of working for the opposition to fail the agendas of NRM government and polices.
“I Ruth Nankabirwa, I have told you, we need people who are committed to fighting for the party, not those that betray us, working with the opposition to undermine our party. You have been following on TV how Rebecca Kadaga conducts herself in Parliament. Let us support Persis Namuganza [state minister for Lands] to help President Museveni by working for the party.
“It’s me, Ruth Nankabirwa, this is my voice and I’m supporting Namuganza and very many people are supporting her because this is a statement we don’t want judas who want to use our party. CEC is a very important organ in NRM, I will not work with someone who disrespects CEC, I ask you to support Namuaganza because she will help us,” she said in the audio.
Nankabirwa also accuses Kadaga, for using her position as Speaker to water down CEC’s decisions that intended to keep party MPs in check. Yet she is among the NRM top leadership. Nankabirwa says that Kadaga as a member of CEC ignores the organ’s collective responsibility to side with errant MPs.
However, over the weekend while in Ankole region seeking for votes from NRM delegates, Kadaga said that her position as a speaker of Parlaiement requires her to cooperate with all legislators regardless of their party affiliation.
“I want to clarify onba few lies about me, that I work for the opposition. I’m a Speaker of Parliament for Independent, FDC, DP and NRM MPs, so some will just be myopic to say that I work with them because I’m supposed to work with them so that we have stability in the House. If I stop a small person from speaking what does it benefit me, I give out three minutes to every member. And those talking about working with the opposition, let them first chess them out of the cabinet, Betty Amongi comes from UPC and is the minister of Kampala, Betty Kamya was Federal alliance, Nakiwala was from DP. So someone choosing me of working with opposition but they are in Cabinet with my chairman. If some say I work with the opposition yet in cabinet meetings she sits with them is it a sensible argument?” she asked.
An inside source in the party told this website that, Nankabirwa’s attack has ignited the war between the two contestants however her aim could be reducing Kadaga’s powers so that in the next Parliament she may face her on the Speakership of the House.
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