The Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Jacob Oulanyah, has challenged the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) Party’s top body, the Central Executive Committee (CEC) to prove it can walk the talk. (Cartoon By Chris Ogon)
Oulanyah said this on NTV on Thursday morning during an interview arguing that he believes in the process of the party. Oulanyah is in the race to become speaker of parliament and is challenging Rebecca Kadaga’s ten-year tenure.
“In 2016, CEC advised both of us to maintain the status quo, I am now waiting for the party processes to choose and this is the opportunity that CEC has to show that it means what it says,” Oulanyah said.
He added, “In order to introduce certainty and predictability of systems of governance, we are going to have to lead by precedent, if no precedent is set and precedents that are set are altered all the time for convenience, then there is a lot of anxiety among the people who believe in the systems.”
In 2016, Oulanyah was in the race for the same race with Kadaga and the former was forced to accept a compromise deal that according to him was a gentleman’s agreement to allow Kadaga complete a ten-year tenure like her predecessor, Edward Ssekandi before giving way for him.
Then, Kadaga also called on the CEC to maintain it’s ten-year precedent it had set.
“I believe that this is the opportunity that the party has to confirm that the organs work and its predictability, that once they have said something, they mean it so as to collapse the tensions. People will know that if Oulanyah becomes this, he can only do ten years and after that he should leave and another person comes. That will create certainty and stabilise the system,” Oulanyah added to emphasise his point on Thursday morning.
Elections for the speaker are expected in May with Oulanyah, Kadaga and Kiira Municipality MP, Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda as the contenders.
In the recent weeks, Oulanyah’s chances have been boosted by the endorsements of to parliamentary groups which have declared support for him and analysts says he is favourite to win the poll as calls increase for Kadaga to be appointed Vice President.
Kadaga argued in 2016 that unlike Museveni’s poor poll showing in Acholi where Oulanyah comes from, she mobilized well for the president and the NRM in Busoga sub-region, pointing to the good poll numbers in the February 18 presidential election.
However, Museveni and ruling party lost miserably in Busoga region, a sharp contrast from what happened in the north where the president triumphed for the first time.
The north going yellow has been credited to Oulanyah’s charisma and mobilisation skills that convinced many to believe the NRM gospel.
Explaining how the north voted, Oulanyah said, “Talking about the northern region, the last election was the most peaceful we have ever had. When Kyagulanyi came to the North, he only talked to the youth and when we found the elders complaining, we dramatized the whole situation and used it to open their eyes.”
He added that it was how the message was packaged that they managed to capture the attention of they youth who many political analysts had predicted would be swept with the red wave brought by new kid on the block Bobi Wine.