By Aggrey Baba
What started as a bold political move by Justice Minister Norbert Mao at the NRM caucus treat in Kyankwanzi is quickly turning into embarrassment, with his own deputy Fred Mukasa Mbidde now openly laughing it off as self-inflicted.
Mbidde told our reporter Aggrey Baba (in a phone interaction) that the Laroo-Pece MP-elect misunderstood why he was invited and the kind of space he was entering, a mistake he says has left the DP president struggling to find relevance at a retreat where he was not even scheduled to speak.
Mbidde, sounding amused clarified that Mao was not invited by the NRM secretariat in his political capacity. Instead, he said, the invitation came directly from President Yoweri Museveni in his role as Head of State and NRM chairman.
“He was invited as a Cabinet minister who made it to Parliament, not as DP president coming to influence NRM positions,” Mbidde said.
He explained that everything at Kyankwanzi follows a strict program, with an official order paper that clearly shows who will speak and what will be discussed. Mao, he said, was not on that list.
“There was no clause showing he would present anything. Now he is trying to find a chance to speak, but he is being ignored, Mbidde said, terming it as self-humiliation.
The remarks come at a time when Mao is already facing pressure following his public clash with Speaker Anita Among, who used a now viral “bedroom and compound” analogy to explain the limits of cooperation, especially on the Speakership.
Mao fired back, accusing her of bad manners and responding with his own sharp words, but the exchange appears to have exposed his weak standing within the NRM space.
Inside DP itself, divisions are also becoming clearer. Just days earlier, Mbidde, followed by party Secretary General Dr. Gerald Siranda had rejected Mao’s Speakership bid and instead endorsed Among, questioning both the timing and the strategy behind Mao’s move.
Mbidde also dismissed claims that Mao’s presence at Kyankwanzi means President Museveni supports him.
“People misunderstood the President. He was clear. CEC endorses candidates, but MPs are the ones who vote. And the party supports those it has endorsed,” Mbidde said, implying that NRM MPs will stick with their official candidates (Anita Among and her deputyThomasTayebwa), not Mao.
Mbidde went further to describe the DP-NRM cooperation as just a “contract,” not a political merger, saying it doesn’t make DP part of NRM.
“The cooperation agreement doesn’t give Mao power to influence caucus decisions,” Mukasa said.
Meanwhile, Mao also came under pressure after claiming that journalist Andrew Mwenda had been blocked from speaking at the retreat by people linked to Among. Mwenda later came out and clarified that he personally withdrew because he had travelled, contradicting Mao’s claims.
All this has left Mao looking isolated, trying to force himself into a space that insiders say is tightly controlled and well organized. At Kyankwanzi, where nothing is left to chance, many say the DP boss may have walked into a situation he didn’t fully understand, and is now paying the price for it. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
