Gen Yoweri Kaguta Tibuhaburwa Museveni is planning to summon NRM’s Central Executive Committee (CEC) members to discuss a way forward on whom they will back for Parliament Speakership.
The call follows the current clash between the two rivaling camps (Speaker Rebecca Kadaga and her Deputy Jacob Oulanyah) who have already expressed interest for the top job in the 11th Parliament. Both contenders belong to the ruling party.
According to NRM Director of communications Emmanuel Dombo, in the meeting, Gen Museveni will decide on the best candidate that all NRM MPs will back come May. Dombo informed this website that there is a lot that is going on between the two factions yet the party leadership is not aware of anything.
“We are just reading them in the newspapers, hearing them on the radio but we as the party we have not yet decided on who will contest. Therefore, soon the party’s chairman is going to meet the CEC members so that whoever wants to contest for the post of Speakership and Deputy can convince members and they will decide from there who to represent the party,” he said.
On Wednesday the House was on fire when legislators on team Kadaga and team Oulanyah went into campaigns full of hate speeches and blackmail. One of the team had even started distributing T-shirts, books and money to the legislators, something that is not allowed.
However, Dombo wondered why members of the same party could attack each other like that.
“The race they are dying for is not theirs, they are in the 10th Parliament and the Speakership they are fighting for is for the next Parliament. It’s not fair for the 10th Parliament to discuss matters of the 11th Parliament, therefore as a party with majority leadership in the House we are going to settle this.”
Kadaga, Nankabirwa wars:
Sources from team Kadaga have informed this website that campaigns are full of hate speeches backed by tribalism engineered especially by team Oulanyah. Team Kadaga members have also pinned the Government Chief Whip Ruth Nankabirwa Ssentamu of being the powerhouse in de-campaigning their candidate since the two have for long been at log heads.
Kadaga’s team accuses the outgoing Kibogo Woman MP of spreading false news alleging that President Museveni, CEC and the State House already decided that Oulanyah will be their candidate.
On Wednesday during the plenary, said in 2016, CEC decided that Oulanyah would be the Speaker for the 11th Parliament.
“I attended CEC meeting in 2016 when we were handling the candidates who had contested at that time for Speaker and Deputy Speaker, this is a reminder of what we decided 5 years ago where CEC persuaded Hon Oulanyah to step down to give away for Hon Kadaga. This is the reminder, there were negotiations that time and they will be negations even this time. We are in multi-party elections,” the Government Chief Whip said.
Kadaga reacted by telling Nankabirwa off not to bring matters of NRM CEC into the August house where the country’s decisions are discussed but not the party’s decisions.
Bugabula County South MP Henry Maurice Kibalya who is one of the committee members campaigning for Kadaga said, “Every side is not speaking well at each other which is a bad sign of leadership. The side effect of this is that if we don’t cure this disease that spreads at a terrible speed, even in times of debating important issues people will bring in this element of team Kadaga and Oulanyah.’
Speaker and the Deputy Speaker will be elected on 20th May 2021.
Do you have a story in your community or an opinion to share with us: Email us at editorial@watchdoguganda.com
