Ms Rebecca Alitwala Kadaga is a go-getter, and her friends and foes know it. That is why she sends fear into her opponents’ ranks when she stands her ground on what she really wants.
And the race for the 11th parliament speaker is in high gears, with Kadaga showing her opponents that she is still in charge.
Reports sending shockwaves into Jacob Oulanyah’s ranks indicate that the Speaker of Parliament has held a private meeting with President Yoweri Museveni. The news has dropped like a bomb on parliament deputy speaker’s camp who have been banking on Mr. Museveni to persuade NRM MPs to back their candidate.
What has made matters worse for Oulanyah is that he was not notified that Mr. Museveni and Ms. Kadaga would hold a meeting at the president’s Kisozi farm in Gomba district. Kisozi is President Museveni’s strategic base where he retreats to plan major political moves.
With Museveni’s new government coming on May 12, 2021, the President is known for looking far in his political plots and it is not surprising he is courting Kadaga with only a month left to his swearing-in.
It is understood that the president and the speaker held a two-hour meeting where details have not come to the fore yet.
However, for Oulanyah’s camp which has been convincing its recruits that the President was on their side, the development is a sharp arrow into their tactics.
The ruling party-NRM’s new legislators are camping in Kyankwanzi for orientation, and behind the scenes, the race for Parliament Speakership is taking shape.
It is expected that at the end of the retreat, it will be clearer who of the two Parliament principles NRM would back. And indeed, Rebecca Kadaga has gained momentum as Jacob Oulanyah camp falls apart.
Oulanyah and his backers have already suffered setbacks in their bid, after the first meeting at State House Entebbe failed to resolve the Speakership flag. Kadaga insists she wants to return as the Speaker and is not taking any other position on the table. Kadaga is buoyed by the fact that there is no law that bars her from running again for Speakership.
It is understood that if NRM fails to front a single candidate, it will be difficult to beat Kadaga in a secret ballot since she has proven popular with legislators.
It is unlikely that President Museveni would accept the two CEC members to go for the final ballot, which would put the party in the place of bother.
If the Kamuli woman MP insists, as she has done, to run for speakership, Mr. Museveni who is a calculative politician, will have to side with her – and find another position for the man from Omoro.
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