By Mulengera Reporters
This Tuesday, DP President Norbert Mao addressed reporters at Party headquarters along Balintuma Road in Mengo where a journalist’s question prompted him to explain why majority newly of the newly-elected NRM MPs want change in Speaker’s office-and that many of them are convinced he is the person Uganda needs to head the legislature at this point in time.
As DP NEC members who flanked him ululated, Mao said it’s possible he can become the next Speaker even though his party has only 6 MPs. He said he intends to meet President Museveni and impress it on him as to why there would be no harm about him as Party Chairman ordering his NRM MPs, who are the majority in the 12th Parliament coming into force in May, to vote for him in the spirit of the NRM-DP cooperation agreement.
Mao said there would be nothing new about this because NRM has previously supported DPs to become EALA MPs-initially Mukasa Mbidde and more recently Gerald Siranda Blacks.
Mao added that Anita Among, the current Speaker, should be humble and have humility while reflecting on the fact that her time to become Speaker of Parliament was to come after 2031 except that circumstances favored her following Jacob Oulanyah’s death in March 2022 in a Seattle hospital in the US. Mao said that at the time of Oulanyah’s passing, three people were present-himself, CJ Dollo and Anita Among.
“I walked over to her hotel room because we were in the same hotel and I told her, you have to become Speaker in 2031 but now that your boss is gone, you are going to take it up by the grace of God.” He said he implored Among to be humble as she steps into Oulanya’s shoes. Mao implied that many Ugandans, even on the streets of Kampala, are already telling him to step forward and take up the job now so that he completes what Oulanyah, his very good friend, was unable to finish.
He explained at the Tuesday presser that, much as he can’t be Oulanyah exactly, there is nothing wrong with him getting supported by the President and NRM to become the next Speaker because he was very close friends with Oulanyah and they both hailed from Acholi, a region which recently gave Museveni 80% of the vote. He says that when he meets Museveni to discuss his potential Speakership, he will be telling him about Acholi sub region’s entitlement to produce the next Speaker because if their son Oulanyah hadn’t died, this would still be his term, and not Among’s.
Mao said that Museveni had previously scored 46% in Acholi, which grew to 80% because of his personal role as a leading opinion leader from the sub region. “I’m always the one who scattered the President’s votes.” He said, having delivered 80% vote from Acholi, he was now entitled to a slice of the political cake on behalf of his people.
Mao said it would be betrayal for him to disregard the clear hunger and thirst Ugandans have been exhibiting towards having a better-governed Parliament. He said Ugandans want a Parliament where power is institutionalized, unlike today when the exercise of power at the legislature as an institution has been individualized.
The DP President said he has what it takes to make a good speaker-the good education, deep connections & roots to Ugandans from every region of the country, the experience, the temperament, the emotional intelligence and the international connections. He said his know-how for the job is unrivalled. He predicted the possibility of Ugandan politics becoming more stormy in the coming months and years, making it clear a stable Speaker like him would come in handy to stead the boat.
He said there is overwhelming support for him to become the next Speaker-both within the population and among the MP-elects who believe this country deserves much better than the current Speaker has offered thus far. Mao reminisced privately speaking with Anita Among at the beginning of his campaigns for Laroo-Pece MP Seat about his rumored ambitions for Speakership. “I told her I don’t fear anything when it comes to my political ambitions and we agreed she will know the truth when the right time for me to pronounce myself comes.”
He said some eminent Ugandans like Andrew Mwenda wanted him to become Speaker of Parliament immediately after Oulanyah’s death. Mwenda demanded that one of the MPs in Acholi resigns his seat to pave way for a by-election, which Mao could win and immediately become the new Speaker. That was as early as March 2022.
Mao said this is all indicative of the extent to which there is massive support for him to become Speaker, which he said he can’t rule out because he believes the country will greatly benefit from his leadership at that level. He added that, given the widespread enthusiasm amongst the newly elected NRM MPs, he is certain to get the job when that time comes.
All this notwithstanding, Mao said there are consultations he was still carrying out with key stakeholders in the country including NRM top apex leaders such as Gen YK Museveni. He says it will be betrayal for him to just ignore big people and new MPs who keep calling him on phone and sending messages calling on him to prepare to run and become the next Speaker.
He said that even when he is motivated by the fact that Ugandans are unanimous in desiring for a more people-centered and accountable Parliament, which can only be guaranteed by an appropriate Speaker like himself, his decision to go public and commence campaigns for the job will have to be preceded by wide consultations, exactly like he did before plunging into campaigns for the Laroo-Pece MP job, which he went on to win very easily on Thursday 15th January. He insisted that his decision to run will be in service of national interests and not just personal political ambitions. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
