By Mulengera Reporters
DP President Norbert Mao, who is also Justice Minister and MP-elect for Loro Pece constituency in Gulu City, has asserted that his Deputy President Mukasa Mbidde should be honest and proud of his decision to support the incumbent Speaker of Parliament as opposed to giving what he called contradictory reasons which can’t stand any public scrutiny.
On NBS Frontline Thursday evening, Mao said it was unsustainable and contradicting for Mukasa Mbidde to fault him for declaring his Speakership bid without first harmonizing the same with the relevant organs of DP. “But he is backing someone for Speakership; which party organ endorsed that?”
Mao also laughed off Mbidde’s assertion that his bid is dead on arrival and he stands no chance simply because with just 10 MPs, there is no way DP can produce the next Speaker of a Parliament comprising of roughly 530 members.
Mao wondered how the same Mukasa Mbidde was able to twice become one of Uganda’s 9 EALA representatives at the time the same DP didn’t have majority MPs and wasn’t even the biggest party from the opposition side.
Mao also repeated his claim that not standing against the current leadership at Parliament would amount to betraying his late friend Jacob Oulanyah who he insisted envisaged a much better situation than what is currently obtaining at the legislature.
He predicted that MPs like Anthony Akol, who chairs the Acholi Parliamentary Group and has been a leading promoter of the status quo through recorded videos of endorsement, will eat their words very soon and regret why they weren’t farsighted enough to have supported his bid. He also predicted that such skeptics will re-align and reach out to him seeking to mend fences immediately after he has trounced the incumbent and become the new Speaker. He predicted that Akol will rush to NBS to publicly own up and apologize not having supported the winning candidate.
Mao also claimed he is the best candidate in terms of his personal clout, global reputation and acceptability and also going by the public opinion. He said if anyone sampled the views of the ordinary man on the street or even listened to any random radio talk show, it’s increasingly clear that majority Ugandans believe that his becoming Speaker will be an improvement and value addition for the Ugandan legislative arm of government.
He called on Gen Museveni and his NRM party to reflect on the possibility of “winning or retaining the Speakership but lose the country.” He promised to engage Gen Museveni more in order to make him see the need to choose the country as opposed to merely having his party winning/retaining Speakership. He said there is a lot of negotiations behind the scenes inside the ruling party to make sure that the right thing is done to ensure that “this House once again becomes the true voice of the people.”
He said it’s his legitimate right to engage Gen Museveni because he is one of those capable of influencing voting patterns inside Parliament since his party has more than 350 MPs in a house of 529 members. Anthony Akol cautioned Mao to be careful and mindful of the fact that, as a person, the incumbent Speaker he is seeking to replace is someone who has always been there for him. Akol also vowed not to be intimidated by Mao’s insinuations that voters back home in Acholi will punish him for being hostile to his bid.
Akol said he can’t support anyone else apart from the incumbent Speaker because that is the position of the NRM party to which he belongs. He also castigated Mao for contemptuously referring to him “as a former FDC member” who doesn’t have moral ground to be as outspoken on the Speakership issue as he has been thus far. He suspected Mao might be using the Speakership race to cajole and blackmail Museveni into giving him an even a bigger post in his post-swearing in Cabinet.
Anthony Akol, whose physical energy and appearance Mao repeatedly joked about, also admitted to occasionally coming under pressure from sections of his own Kilak North voters back home in Amuru who have been demanding to know why he doesn’t back Norbert Mao. He said he has a right to choose whoever he likes and besides, he can’t be an NRM man and back someone from DP. He said he will continue explaining his choice to his own voters in the hope they will gradually understand. He maintained that Norbert Mao was flogging a dead horse given the small number of MPs his party has in the 12th Parliament.
Kinkizi East MP Dr. Chris Baryomunsi, who is also the Information Minister, was part of the panel and said there are lots of broken things that require fixing at Parliament including the corruption which the President previously publicly complained about during a public speech at Kololo Ceremonial Grounds. He said there are lots of issues at Parliament that require fixing except that he wasn’t at liberty to disclose on public television. He said he is looking forward to the NRM caucus meeting or retreat which will be the perfect platform to go public about such.
He quoted the guidance of NRM director legal affairs Barata and made it clear the contest is open and will only be considered concluded after the NRM caucus has sat and adopted a final decision. Baryomunsi also said the same will be discussed during NRM caucus retreat at Kyankwanzi which he advised Mao to gate-crash and make his case from there. Baryomunsi also rejected those things of people being Speakers and Deputy for 10 years before being elevated.
He wondered what would happen if Thomas Tayebwa, the deputy Speaker, opts not to seek reelection as Ruhinda County MP in 2031 which is the condition precedent for him to become full Speaker after deputizing the incumbent for 10 years.
“Are you going to go to Mitooma and drag him out of his house to get him vie for Speakership in 2031 if he opts not to run again simply because there was that CEC understanding of having to wait for 10 years to pass?” Baryomunsi also added that the Constitution and other laws, which make every MP eligible to vie for Speakership, are more important and must take precedent over the much-publicized CEC endorsement. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
