By Mulengera Reporters
Rebecca Kadaga and Anita Among have this Wednesday had the opportunity to make one final pitch for the votes at the soon-ending NRM delegates conference at Kololo Ceremonial Grounds.
The two ladies are campaigning for the position of National Second Vice Chairperson for the NRM party, which Kadaga has been occupying for the last 20 years without break.
They were each given 10 minutes to address thousands of delegates at Kololo. It was an exhausted crowd though, with many of the members having had sleepless nights while campaigning for their loved ones.
Speaking first, Kadaga ran through her 40 years of being a Museveni/NRM supporter, the positions she had held over the years and what she was able to accomplish during her 10 years of being Speaker of Parliament. She spoke about the loans she passed which billions had been used to build modern infrastructure for the country. She also implored delegates to re-elect her because there is a lot at stake.
She described herself as a leader who is integrity-driven and castigated those who she said had introduced corruption inside NRM party elections. Kadaga also thanked the President for the mentorship but veiledly faulted him for failing to act decisively against those acting corruptly.
The long-serving Kamuli Woman MP claimed that at Kololo, a vote was as of Tuesday night going at as much as Shs300,000/=. She claimed that this is what was being paid out per vote but didn’t disclose individual contestants doing this.
Kadaga, who has only been in NRM party and no other over the last 40 years, claimed that for the first time, she had seen contestants bribing voters with brand new smart phones. She added that some leaders were being bribed with millions of shillings depending on one’s capacity to influence delegates.
She also said she had seen “unprecedented” levels of intimidation and asserted she had supporters who have death threats that had been sent to them through text and WhatsApp messages. She also accused some contestants of abusing the public office they hold in order to create additional advantage for themselves in the CEC elections. Still, she didn’t disclose names of perpetrators.
Rebecca Kadaga seemed to have learnt from the counterproductive belligerent speech she made a few days earlier at Entebbe State House and was this time round more conciliatory in her Kololo speech towards both the President and her opponent Anita Among. She said the extent of corruption, vote bribery and intimidation that had been experienced at Kololo was “unacceptably high.”
She also claimed that money was dished out to buy votes throughout the Tuesday night at three locations namely Nakawa, Kisasi and Nabisunsa. Kadaga implied she had privately confided into the President with all the details. “This is all your money as taxpayers and my advice to you is that please chew it but make the right choices,” Kadaga implored delegates.
The audience was pensive as she spoke. She expressed optimism that Gen Museveni will get to the root of all the anomalies she complained about and severely punish the culprits as he had privately promised to her. Unlike at the State House event of days earlier, Kadaga spoke while standing and didn’t direct any belligerent utterances towards Tanga Odoi.
She called on delegates to realize that their party would soon be gone and gone forever if the corruption and mediocrity she complained about was allowed to thrive as opposed to being stopped. She also castigated the party’s Electoral Commission for deliberately mismanaging time so that voting goes late into the night so that there is cover for the unwanted contestants’ votes to be stolen.
Kadaga, who kept within the allocated 10 minutes without demanding for more, also spoke about existence of fake delegates and fake delegates registers at Kololo. Kadaga also asserted that many of these are grievances she has been raising in CEC meetings and expressed her consternation as to why no decisive action had been taken to remedy the same.
AMONG’S TURN:
On her part, Anita Among leveraged her loyalty making it clear that “as Speaker of Parliament, I have never antagonized the President nor the NRM party.” She thanked Museveni for identifying her from the opposition and going on to give her a platform inside NRM, which has enabled her to add value.
Without responding to any of the things Kadaga had ranted about, Anita Among said she understands the 3rd most powerful CEC position to be one for mobilization as opposed to anything else. She impliedly addressed the difference between holding that CEC position for purposes of merely keeping the job as opposed to actually doing the job.
She said she understands the same to be synonymous with amplifying mobilization for the ruling party in the whole country as opposed to being restricted or confined to one’s native region. She made reference to the energy she possesses and readiness to spearhead mobilization and deepen the appeal of the party that has governed the country for the last 40 years.
She also made a case for elected leaders at the local government levels to have their remuneration enhanced. She specifically referred to Speakers and Chairpersons at the District and Sub County levels.
These are people she met on Tuesday and interacted with at Parliament and committed to use her position to ensure that all their welfare concerns are adequately addressed. She also advocated for the inclusion of NRM Chairpersons at Sub County and District levels into service delivery decision-making processes. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
