By Mulengera Reporters
During the Saturday Capital Gang debate, Information Minister Chris Baryomunsi explained why he won’t be apologizing to anyone (not even Gen YK Museveni) over the recent tweet he put out on his X registering discomfort over the recent CEC resolution ring-fencing the positions of Speaker and Deputy Speaker in favour of Anita Among and Thomas Tayebwa respectively.
On the same platform, his political ally Lydia Wanyoto (the Mbale City Woman MP-elect) refused to give a direct answer to the moderator’s question as to whether she personally was interested in either of the positions or not.
She maintained that, just like the President asserted in his numerous articles defending Anita Among’s to stand against Rebecca Kadaga who demanded sole candidature for the CEC position, each of the 529 MPs of the 12th Parliament has a right to express interest and stand for either of the positions.
Besides dismissing the alleged CEC endorsement as mere social media talk, since it hadn’t been owned and officially released by Secretary General Richard Todwong or Media Director Emmanuel Ddombo, Wanyoto asserted that it can’t be over until the NRM caucus ratifies the same. She also wondered why the matter was being rushed instead of waiting for all SIGs elections to be completed.
SIGs reps like youth MPs, older persons’ MPs and PWDs all have a right and equal chance to vie for any position and Wanyoto said before the EC proclaims the general gazette, it would be premature for any party organ to pass resolutions declaring Anita Among and Speaker unopposed for their positions.
She said that the caucus is very important because its the most active NRM organ apart from CEC. Wanyoto said there was nothing wrong with all the NRM caucus members being permitted the opportunity to express interest in either of the jobs because even Museveni and his Vice Moses Kigongo have always been opposed including the most recent CEC elections at Kololo.
People came up to express interest and CEC took two days cajoling them to bow out for Kigongo and Museveni as opposed to the door being shut from the very beginning through ring-fencing.
Wanyoto also referred to the fact that Gen Museveni wrote several articles defending the right of any NRM member to vie for any position-as Anita Among battled Rebecca Kadaga for the position of 2nd National Vice Chairperson of NRM.
That this same logic should equally apply to those desiring to become Speaker or Deputy, even if they are first term MPs. Wanyoto said the President went as far as offering the option of Among/Kadaga being part of CEC as a special nominee, which both of them declined in favour of fighting it out at Kololo where delegates had the last word on who becomes.
Wanyoto also went into history and recalled how James Wapakabhulo served for a short time, less than 5 years, even when the whole country was unanimous that he had been an excellent speaker during CA.
Then came Francis Ayume, who Wanyoto reminisced didn’t serve for 10 years. He was followed by Edward Sekandi who Wanyoto said served for 10 years because the idea was to strengthen multipartism and cohesion inside NRM which was a new party.
As of 2011, Sekandi desired to go for 3rd term but was unable to get his way because members of the NRM caucus, which Wanyoto says is a very important organ of NRM, vigorously pushed back, regardless of what CEC’s view at that time could have been.
Wanyoto said her view was that there is need for the SG Todwong or Ddombo to come out and authenticate social media reports that CEC had indeed taken a position on the redeployment of both Anita Among and Thomas Tayebwa, so that people like herself can credibly give their views and pronounce themselves on the same since open debate and freedom of expression is part of the NRM DNA.
She defended her right to speak because she is now an MP, which makes her a member of both the caucus and NEC. She also said she is a founding member of the NRM because as of 2005, she was one of the two EALA MPs (the other being Med Kaggwa) who shunned PAFO and Reform Agenda (which later on became FDC) and stuck with NRM. This was at a time many of today’s powerful people inside NRM were nowhere in the picture.
BARYOMUNSI ERUPTS:
As if having premunition that his days aren’t going to be many as a Cabinet member, Information Minister Chris Baryomunsi (who formerly belonged to the rebel MPs’ group) was more belligerent and overt in his criticisms of the alleged CEC resolution. He assured the moderator Oscar Semweya Musoke that he wasn’t going to apologize to anyone over his X post, disputing the CEC resolution ring-fencing the two positions.
He said, even during his days as a member of CEC where he served for 5 years, he was always very outspoken in defence of accountability, transparency and against mediocrity inside the NRM party.
He said this caused leaders at the Secretariat and others in top management of the party to become generally uncomfortable with him. He believes these connived with others to orchestrate his removal from CEC during the last September party elections at Kololo, even when he was very popular with delegates across the country.
He added that at Kololo, he personally was the target of the many malpractices that were deliberately committed by the organizers of the delegates conference, including the venue access control system being deliberately collapsed so that goons from city streets would be sneaked in to vote him out.
He maintained that it was clear some people didn’t want him to continue being part of CEC where he always demanded high standards of performance and accountability. He said his approach and outspokenness discomforted many top party executives at Kyadondo who worked with others to ferment his downfall and ouster from CEC.
For the CEC position, Baryomunsi jointly campaigned with Lydia Wanyoto and Godfrey Kiwanda. The trio was incumbents and they all lost their respective races. Baryomunsi was NRM Vice Chairperson for Western Uganda, Wanyoto for Women League and Kiwanda for Buganda region.
Fearless, as can be expected of any Mukiga, Baryomunsi used the Saturday program to proudly recall how he confronted Gen Museveni as party chairman as the Kololo fracas unfolded.
“He promised to investigate the mess I was complaining about, including people being sneaked in to vote for my opponent in darkness past 2am, and I’m still waiting to receive a copy of the report of his findings up to this day,” Baryomunsi said making it clear he was hopeful that Gen Museveni would keep his word and share with him a report of his findings and the mitigation steps he intends to undertake to ensure the same doesn’t happen again.
Baryomunsi also cited organizers not allowing him to make a campaign speech at Kololo, imploring delegates to re-elect him, as part of the broader plot that had been orchestrated to prevent him from being re-elected. That the sham election was aimed at locking objective high quality minds like himself out of CEC.
He demanded that Museveni makes public his findings so that the whole country gets to know what exactly happened during what he called ‘sham’ elections at Kololo.
“I intend to write to him following up and demanding for my copy of the report he promised.”
While disregarding panelists who laughed at his demand that Museveni gives him a copy, Baryomunsi explained why he believes NRM party primaries for MP flag bearers and Byabakama’s national elections were much more transparent and better-organized than the delegates conference at Kololo.
He asserted that it was suspicious for CEC to rush to endorse Anita Among and Thomas Tayebwa as sole candidates for Speaker and Deputy when the ‘election cycle is still ongoing for groups like UPDF MPs, PWDs, youth representatives, older persons and others.’
Saying his tweet reflected the silent discomfort that is shared by millions of NRM cadres and leaders, Baryomunsi said operating in the dark and ring-fencing positions to favour new comers like Anita Among and Thomas Tayebwa (both having come from FDC) partly explains why 10m registered voters, who Museveni claimed to be his supporters, remain disillusioned and stayed away from the Thursday 15th January elections.
He said Ugandans are becoming disinterested in electoral processes because of such manipulation whereby winners to take certain offices are determined in advance as opposed to allowing processes and laid down procedures to apply to all party cadres and members equally. His compatriot Wanyoto shared this sentiment too about the 10m NRM voters staying away from the polls.
Going forward, Baryomunsi demanded that the party complies with its own rules and regulations by allowing the Odoi Tanga-led EC to call for expression of interest so that the list of those interested in the Speaker and Deputy Speaker job, is worked out and sent to CEC, which can proceed to vet and listen to each one of them before coming to the final conclusion.
Baryomunsi asserted that such inclusiveness is the best way to go about things at this point in time when a growing number of cadres are becoming disillusioned with being excluded from the making of key party decisions.
He added that even when the practice/culture of incumbents doing two terms before the Deputy proceeds to become the full Speaker remains in force, the EC-to-CEC procedure shouldn’t be disregarded because it gives the impression that everyone has been given a chance to participate in the decision.
Bragging how he one time told the President during a CEC session that he was ready to fearlessly advise him on matters of NRM on behalf of party members in Western Uganda, which he was representing, Baryomunsi clarified that he doesn’t have anything personal against Anita Among and Thomas Tayebwa.
“In fact, I believe they have done very well but let their redeployment be processed properly without excluding key stakeholders.” He wondered why the practice of engaging whoever is interested in either of the two slots, so that those who don’t make it end up being deployed elsewhere, is now being disregarded yet it has been working well for NRM.
He said even after CEC, that shouldn’t be all because the NRM caucus is even more important when it comes to Speakership because these are the people whoever gets the job will have deal with on a daily basis. He asserted that the NRM caucus is so powerful in matters of this nature to the extent that they can even frustrate the CEC decision, once well mobilized.
He said he was so deliberate on expressing his views, opposing imposing the duo back in ‘any haphazard manner’ to the extent he would defend his tweet and repeat his views even infront of the President. Baryomunsi charged that, by insisting on this ad hoc arrangement, CEC risked discrediting itself yet credibility is now very important.
“Why the hurry? Why is the Speaker and Deputy so fearful of competition yet, in my view, they have done so well? The Speaker’s election is in May and why then would CEC want to hurry as if it’s an emergency which has to be considered at their very first meeting after elections? I’m here to remind whoever is involved in this that legitimacy and political hygiene leading to a credible process still matters,” Baryomunsi asserted.
Baryomunsi wondered why the two Speakers pride themselves in being unopposed yet political leadership is strengthened through competition. He said he personally could have taken out a bank loan of Shs1bn and bought off his opponents in Kinkizi East but he preferred a competitive race which culminated into him defeating seven opponents.
“We need political hygiene inside NRM and this deception of being unopposed isn’t a good thing for our party.” He said he was ready to die defending the founding principles and values of the NRM because it’s the party he chose and deliberately joined when still at a tender age.
He also used the Capital Gang appearance to send out a message to those predicting doom for him in case he remains adamant and doesn’t delete his tweet disputing the CEC decision to ring-fence the two positions for Thomas Tayebwa and Anita Among. “Was I born a Minister? Even if I’m not an MP or Minister, will I die? Does every one have to be a Minister? If I don’t speak about these injustices, then who will speak about these things?”
He advised those who have been sending him messages and making private phone calls to him expressing worry over his controversial tweet, saying he was ready for anything and doesn’t regret being outspoken in defence of a more democratic and transparent NRM.
He made it clear that he and other stakeholders inside NRM weren’t going to keep quiet when majority caucus members are being disenfranchised yet each one of them is legally eligible to stand for Speakership or Deputy.
PRO-AMONG KATUNTU SWINGS:
Joined by NUP’s Benjamin Katana, outgoing Bugweri County MP Abdul Katuntu vigorously pushed back against both Wanyoto and Baryomunsi.
Katuntu said the two had no moral authority to oppose the automatic redeployment of Tayebwa and Among since they never raised a finger when Gen Museveni was being declared sole candidate for the NRM by the same CEC, which they are now opposing.
Katuntu said the truth is there are now two camps inside NRM regarding the party’s legislative agenda. That one is pro-Rebecca Kadaga and another pro-Among, to which he admitted belonging.
He said that this clearly manifested in May 2021 when the Speaker was being elected and later on last September at Kololo where the two ladies competed for the position of national 2nd Vice Chairperson for NRM.
He accused the Baryomunsi-Wanyoto duo of now being outspoken against the same CEC simply because their personal interests have been threatened.
He advised them to just keep quiet, while eating a humble pie to lie low like an envelope because the Anita Among-Tayebwa redeployment bus had long left the station and there is nothing they are going to ever do about it.
He implored them to emulate him, who isn’t ashamed of confessing to belong to a certain camp, and make it clear they are hurt and ranting because the CEC position on Speakership politically diminishes them and other members of their camp.
Lawyer Malcom, who is a member of the Capital Gang and is a relative hailing from Kigezi too, advised his co-ethnic Chris Baryomunsi to just sink into the impending political oblivion because he has no moral authority to contradict CEC now when he acquiesced to their all earlier similarly draconian resolutions favouring ring-fencing of positions. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
