By Mulengera Reporters
As of May 2021 when the Speaker for the 12th Parliament was being elected, Thomas Tayebwa was one of the very effective and most dependable political allies then outgoing Speaker Rebecca Kadaga had. In fact, as he campaigned to be flag bearer for NRM for the position of Deputy Speaker, Tayebwa closely worked with Kadaga who also was up facing Jacob Oulanyah.
In the end, Gen Museveni intervened and, feeling obliged to be there for his blue-eyed girl Anita Among, who had helped him obliterate FDC, he ordered Tayebwa out of the race and made him Government Chief Whip. Kadaga stayed in the race (as an independent) even after CEC disowned her and backed Oulanyah to honor the practice of Speakers being replaced by their deputies. It was also made clear there was need for Oulanyah, who had been Deputy for 10 years, to replace his boss Kadaga who equally had replaced Speaker Sekandi after deputizing him for 10 years.
In the end, Oulanyah died in March 2022 and Among became full Speaker as the Deputy slot became vacant once again and that is how Tayebwa went for it and got the job. In all this, the Ruhinda County North MP remained courteous and respectful towards Kadaga and was never seen to do anything capable of hurting or antagonizing his interests.
But on Wednesday at Kololo as delegates lined up to elect the next National 2nd Vice Chairperson for NRM, with incumbent Kadaga facing off with Anita Among, Tayebwa took some bold steps to indicate his relationship with Kadaga was no longer as solid as had always been considered to be.
The organizers erected 7 polling stations and this was according to regions. At each polling station, Among and Kadaga were each required to have agents and Among deployed high level officials, ostensibly to psychologically cow her opponent’s camp. It turned out Tayebwa was Among’s agent at the polling station where all delegates from the Greater Western Uganda voted from. He actually held the huge Among poster as he signaled pro-Among delegates to line behind him.
He went on to address reporters and made it clear he was doing this not because he loves Kadaga (he always called her Mama) less. He explained it’s because he realizes the party needs an energetic mobilizer in that role at this moment more than ever before and to him, the much younger Anita Among was best suited. Otherwise, he articulated that the two ladies are great leaders of the Movement and the party actually needs both of them at the CEC level.
Tayebwa suggested that in case Kadaga loses, Gen Museveni must quickly reach out and rehabilitate her by adding her on the list of eminent persons who are his nominees in CEC. Those already there include Ruhakana Rugunda, Dr. Crispus Kiyonga, Huda Oleru, Gen Kahinda Otafiire etc. Tayebwa said equally true if Among loses the vote, Museveni should nominate her “so that we end up having both of them sit in CEC.”
As he spoke about this matter, Tayebwa seemed to clearly be hard-placed with having to choose between two very good candidates for the role. He added that his decision didn’t mean or imply that one of the two ladies (Among) was a better leader than the other (Kadaga) and vice versa. It was dictated by necessity whereby he believes the position being voted for requires one who will have the capability to run around the country and mobilize better as Gen Museveni faces his opponents for 2026.
Though he agreed with Kadaga’s crying out that money had become too much in NRM elections, Tayebwa rejected claims that the Kamuli Woman MP had been targeted for political destruction because her seat was opened up for competition (to favour Among) unlike that of National Chairman Museveni and the 1st Vice Chairman Moses Kigongo which were ring-fenced and the two even longer serving incumbents ended up facing no competition.
Tayebwa said it would be inconsistent to argue like that yet this wasn’t the first time this has happened-Kadaga facing competition. “That started in 2021 when Hon Parsis Namuganza was cleared to stand against the Rt. Hon Rebecca Kadaga. The debate should bear that in mind and we discuss that issue from that early and not now simply because we want to sneak in Anita’s name,” Tayebwa said.
He also proposed that in future, similar party elections be held at districts and regional levels so that the cost of getting thousands of delegates in Kampala can be overcome and the bribery mischief becomes harder to perfect by corrupt-minded contestants who bribe voters and pay for votes. He suggested that the matter must be comprehensively debated as soon as the Kololo CEC elections are concluded, as opposed to sweeping the growing political monetization problem under the carpet.
But all said and done, that practice of lining up will most likely create more conflicts and hatred inside NRM, especially among senior leaders, as opposed to fermenting unity, cohesion and oneness. Secret balloting could have been more ideal though the same has its own credibility and logistics challenges and complications. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
