Amuriat fires Muntu team in big shake-up

Kira Municipality MP Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda is the only former member of the pro Mugisha Muntu group that retained his position on the Opposition team in Parliament as Mr Patrick Amuriat Oboi made changes on Friday.

Mr Nganda, who will be deputised by Bukonzo East MP Tony Muhindo as Opposition Whip, was among MPs rumoured to be discussing a possible breakaway from FDC and forming another party with Gen Muntu after their camp lost to Mr Amuriat late last year.
But indications are that he mended fences with the new leadership, with Mr Amuriat eventually finding it strategically smart to retain at least a member of the other camp in his new lineup.

When Gen Muntu found himself in a similar position after defeating Budadiri West MP Nandala Mafabi in 2012, he replaced Mr Mafabi as Leader of Opposition (LoP) with a key member of the Mafabi camp – former Bukhooli Central MP Wafula Oguttu.
This time round, in choosing a new LoP, Mr Amuriat perhaps felt released from the pressure of having to pick from the opposite camp for a replacement for Kasese Woman MP Winnie Kiiza, having already kept Mr Ssemujju in his position.

Insiders say Mr Amuriat toyed with the idea of choosing one of his staunch backers, but a compromise candidate in Gulu Woman MP Betty Aol Ocan, who is said to have been most popular pick for those on the decision making table, proved most appealing.
The other MPs who were rumoured to be interested in the coveted position are Obongi County MP Hassan Kaps Fungaroo, Rukungiri Municipality MP Roland Mugume Kaginda and the Buhweju County MP Francis Mwijukye. They all backed Mr Amuriat and got consolation appointments in the line-up.

Ms Aol is a third termer but has not made headlines in the past, with her stint as Deputy Opposition Whip in the Ninth Parliament passing largely unnoticed. Having stayed on the sidelines as Mr Amuriat and Gen Muntu faced off, she is seen as a compromise candidate for the LoP job.
Ms Kiiza led the Opposition side through the tumultuous process that led to the removal of age limits for presidential candidates late last year, and she led a select group of MPs that petitioned the courts to reverse the decision. Their petition part-succeeded and the group has now appealed to the Supreme Court seeking a reversal of the removal of age limits.

Land mine
The appointment of LoP has always been a dicey issue in FDC. Dr Kizza Besigye perhaps faced the most delicate decision when a choice had to be made between his long-time ally, the late Sam Njuba, and Prof Ogenga Latigo for the LoP position in the Eighth Parliament.

With the party failing to build consensus on who should be appointed LoP, Njuba and Prof Latigo were subjected to a vote in which Njuba lost. Prof Latigo went on to complete Parliament’s five-year term as LoP, the only one who has done it to-date in FDC’s history.

In the Ninth Parliament, Mr Mafabi was favoured over Dokolo Woman MP Cecilia Ogwal as LoP. Mr Mafabi’s tenure as LoP was blighted by infighting and mistrust among the Opposition MPs in Parliament with some resigning their positions on the Shadow Cabinet.

Mr Mafabi aggravated the Besigye-Muntu divide in FDC when he unsuccessfully contested for the presidency in 2012, in a vicious campaign that continues to unsettle the party.
With Mr Mafabi defeated in the race for the presidency, he was replaced by Mr Oguttu in February 2014.
Ms Kiiza’s appointment as LoP in May 2016 was perhaps the most straightforward. With Mr Oguttu out of the Parliament and in light of the stellar performance of FDC in Kasese District, Ms Kiiza became the natural choice.

Reshuffle
Asked why nearly all MPs who supported Gen Muntu were fired, Mr Amuriat said the changes were in “good faith”, informed by consultations and insisted that there is no “political persecution”.
“The appointments were made in good faith and for the wellbeing of the FDC and the good of the struggle,” Mr Amuriat said.
Bugweri County MP Abdu Katuntu was fired from the leadership of the Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises and replaced with the Kawempe South MP Mubarak Munyagwa. Mr Munyagwa will be deputised by Rubaga South MP Moses Kasibante.
Soroti Woman MP Angeline Ossege, another Gen Muntu supporter, loses the chair of Public Accounts Committee (PAC). Former LoP Nandala Mafabi, a key supporter of Mr Amuriat, reoccupies the PAC chair, a position he held in the Eighth Parliament.

Ntungamo Municipality MP Gerald Karuhanga will be replaced by Chua West MP Okin Ojara as PAC vice chairman.
Obongi County MP Hassan Kaps Fungaroo retains his position as chairman of Government Assurances Committee and will be deputised by Nakawa MP Michael Kabaziguruka, who has spent the first two years of his first term in Parliament largely bed-ridden or incarcerated. Both Mr Fungaroo and Mr Kabaziguruka backed Mr Amuriat.

Agago Woman MP Franka Akello is the new chairperson of the Local Government Accounts Committee and will be deputised by Rubaga South MP Moses Kasibante, a member of the Democratic Party. FDC stalwart Reagan Okumu, who backed Gen Muntu for the presidency, loses the position of Local Government Accounts chairman.

Buhweju MP Francis Mwijukye, who backed Mr Amuriat against Gen Muntu, was rewarded with the position of Parliamentary Commissioner, replacing Dokolo Woman MP Cecilia Ogwal, who backed Gen Muntu against Mr Amuriat.

Rukungiri Municipality MP Kaginda joins the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), Mbale Municipality MP Jack Wamanga Wamai (African, Caribbean and Pacific Parliament), Busongora North MP William Nzonghu goes to the Pan African Parliament (PAP), while Mukono Municipality MP Betty Nambooze, a member of DP, will join the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA).