By Mulengera Reporters
Many Museveni Ministers are increasingly getting concerned and fearful that, if not mitigated, the political feuding between Ministers Jane Ruth Aceng and Betty Amongi will leave the Lango community bitterly split up and the NRM party weakened in the sub region.
And as such, different Museveni Ministers are taking different steps. Besides the like of Kahinda Otafiire, Peter Ogwang and a few others who have taken to openly campaigning for Aceng while castigating the UPC First Lady, and Jessica Alupo plus Hamson Obua who are staunch Amongi supporters, some others have prioritized deescalation while maintaining neutrality of some sort.
Some have taken to privately reaching out to Amongi while seeking to understand why she is quiting Oyam South for Lira City Woman MP Seat. Those determined to work towards deescalation so as to cajole Amongi to back off have so far included General Katumba Wamala, the Works & Transport Minister who is vastly respected by majority Cabinet colleagues.
Katumba Wamala has been engaging and reaching out in the hope that a win-win can be secured but, unfortunately, he hasn’t yet made much progress as Amongi seems determined to carry on with her political experiment.
Aware that the Aceng predicament can potentially happen to any of them, majority Ministers actually disapprove of what Amongi has done (quitting her own constituency and come to Lira City to antagonise a colleague).
Those hostile to the Amongi decision include Ministers like Davinia Esther Anyakun, Balaam Barugahara, Parsis Namuganza and a few others. Even other big people in government like Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa or even his boss Speaker Anita Among, aren’t exactly comfortable with the Betty Amongi move.
Like Katumba Wamala, Defense Minister Jacob Oboth-Oboth is intrigued and has been trying to engage in some diplomacy to achieve some de-escalation which he hopes can result into Amongi staying put in Oyam. Inside sources say that even this week on the sidelines of the Monday Cabinet meeting, Oboth-Oboth seperately spoke to the two-Amongi and Aceng.
He eventually brought them together face-to-face inside that Cabinet room and demanded they become deliberate about deescalating the situation before it gets too late. Sources say the two seemed willing to engage and comfortable having Oboth-Oboth mediate talks of some sort, which should result into Amongi reconsidering her decision to quit Oyam for Lira City.
Cabinet sources say that even when not much progress was made on the sidelines of that Cabinet meeting, Oboth-Oboth seemed motivated to keep trying as he counts on equally respected Gen Edward Katumba Wamala, who is clearly determined to get the two ladies reach a deal of some sort since they have a lot in common including both of them hailing from Oyam district. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
