By Aggrey Baba
Hon. Betty Nambooze, the Mukono Municipality MP (NUP) has stepped into the eye of the storm, warning former Speaker, and the incumbent NRM 2nd national vice chairperson (female), Rebecca Kadaga that her fight with Speaker Anita Among is misplaced, arguing that the real challenge Kadaga faces is not Among, but President Museveni himself and the party’s top leadership.
In a candid Facebook post, Nambooze reminded Kadaga that her humiliation at Kololo in 2021 was orchestrated from above, not by Among. “Anita has never orchestrated your humiliation at Kololo You’re only choosing to live in denial,” Nambooze wrote, cautioning that taking on Among in the upcoming NRM CEC election could repeat past failures and challenges like she (Kadaga) faced against the late Jacob Oulanyah. Nambooze noted that the Kamuli Woman MP’s current vulnerability (politically and financially) makes such a contest risky.
People’s Front for Freedom’s (PFF) Salam Musumba who hails from the same region as Kadaga had earlier said that the very fact Among has been allowed to contest against Kadaga shows a deliberate plan by Museveni and NRM First Vice Chairperson Hajji Moses Kigongo, suggesting that Kadaga is caught in a planned strategy designed to kick her out, by the very men with whom she has long steered the wheels of the yellow bus. Which also justifies Nambooze’s warning.
Among herself clarified during the same meeting where Kadaga launched a verbal measile at both Museveni and herself (Among), that she attended the conference not as a CEC member like Kadaga had claimed (that she is already a CEC member as an EX-Officio), but as “Museveni’s visitor,” a point that underscores Nambooze’s warning that Among’s presence in the CEC race against Kadaga is connected to Museveni’s hidden agenda and Kadaga should know that whatever Among is doing, is orchestrated by the big man himself.
Museveni, in response to Kadaga’s concerns, during the same conference, reminded her that Busoga is bigger than any individual and warned the former speaker against framing the region as being under attack. He also urged her to stop assuming that anyone is hunting her, reinforcing the idea that Kadaga’s anger at Among may be misdirected.
Nambooze’s intervention is timely. Kadaga’s recent fiery speech, where she threatened consequences for the party if sidelined, frames the struggle as a personal fight, arguing that her focus on Among is “barking at the hen while the hawk steals the grain,” which brings to life the proverb that when the roots are deep, there is no reason to fear the wind. This means Kadaga is fighting the leaves while ignoring the trunk that truly controls the tree.
Nambooze’s message here is that Kadaga’s real challenge lies with Museveni and the NRM hierarchy, not with Among. And misplacing her fight risks political isolation and further humiliation, and the coming days will test whether she can navigate this storm or be sidelined as Busoga’s power dynamics shift.
