The race for the position of Speaker of Parliament has gained momentum specifically in this week when discussions on who should be took over the floor of the house.
It was sparked off after Speaker Rebecca Kadaga, a candidate in the race warned lawmakers against vulgarising the campaigns for the job.
“I & several MPs are appalled at vulgarisation of campaigns for the office of Speaker & Deputy Speaker. Hitherto unheard of practices of printing posters, T-shirts, pens, etc are taking centre stage. The Committee on Rules should interest itself in this conduct,@ Kadaga said.
She added, “Claims by one Minister that she sits in the NRM’s CEC & that she was in attendance when certain national leadership positions were ring-fenced for particular individuals, are false. It would be undemocratic to build a future Assembly even before it is elected.”
However, MPs were not ready to take any of it with some forced to declare their allegiance on who they will back for the speakership. Deputy Speaker Jacob Oulanyah is a strong contender and favoured by many.
Kadaga was responding to Government Chief Whip, Ruth Nankabirwa who said she was privy to discussions that
“I belong to one of the Wats app groups, we named it 317. I am the chair of the NRM caucus, and that position makes me a member of the #NRM CEC . I attended CEC in 2016 when, we were handling the candidates who had contested that time for Speaker and the deputy. What I posted was a reminder of CEC position of 2016. Where CEC convinced Hon. Jacob Oulanyah to step down for the Speaker,@ Nankabirwa said.
Two parliamentary groups, The Acholi and Lango groups have already declared their support for Oulanyah, the man known for his punctuality and honesty.
In the discussions for who should be speaker, an argument has been prevalent about the unwritten precedent, rules of a Speaker of Parliament.
According to the rule, a speaker of the house is supposed to serve two five year terms before moving on to something else.
In 2016, at the height of the campaign between Kadaga and Oulanyah, the former made a passionate plea to the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party leadership to do to her what they did to her predecessor, Edward Kiwanuka Ssekandi – allow her complete a 1 0 year tenure and maintain the precedent.
In an interview with NTV, Kadaga said the party should be consistent and allow her serve ten years, prompting the party to convince Oulanyah into a compromise.
“I think that the party should also be consistent, they were able to give my predecessor ten years. They should not change the rules because it’s me. They should also be consistent,” Kadaga said in the interview.
Believing on the word of the party leadership then, Oulanyah allowed to give way for party harmony and cohesion to prevail and allow Kadaga see out her ten year tenure like she requested.
Ugandans are now asking Kadaga to maintain what she asked the party leadership. During a press conference to announce their support for Oulanyah on Wednesday, Lango Parliamentary Group chair, Betty Amongi revealed that she was one of Kadaga’s campaigners and also part of a delegation that convinced Oulanyah
There have been growing calls for her to be appointed Vice President but that lies entirely with the appointing authority, President Yoweri Museveni.
Elections for the post of Speaker are expected in May.
