Among, Tayebwa promise to heal old political wounds

Current Speaker of Parliament Anita Among and Mityana Municipality MP Francis Zaake fist bump before a special sitting of the 11th Parliament to elect Speaker and Deputy Speaker of Parliament in Mach 2022.

What you need to know:

  • Weeks earlier, the two had bitterly fallen out after Mr Zaake was stripped of his duties as a parliamentary commissioner after what many perceived as the prompting of Ms Among.

Ahead of Friday’s vote on the Speakership, Anita Among warmly hugged Mityana Municipality legislator Francis Zaake.

Weeks earlier, the two had bitterly fallen out after Mr Zaake was stripped of his duties as a parliamentary commissioner after what many perceived as the prompting of Ms Among.

A debate about torture in the House had seen Ms Among—deputising Speaker Emeritus Jacob Oulanyah—appear to dismiss Mr Zaake’s torture claims on account that he won the 100 metre dash at the inter-parliamentary games in Tanzania.

In response, Mr Zaake—whom court had earlier found to have been tortured—is alleged to have fired a salvo at Ms Among via social media.

Mr Ojara Mapenduzi (Gulu West, Bardege-Layibi Division), who the Opposition National Unity Platform (NUP) had appointed to the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament, would go on to orchestrate Mr Zaake’s censure.

The warm photo moments that Ms Among and Mr Zaake shared at Kololo Independence Grounds on Friday suggests that a hatchet has been buried.

After his censure, Mr Zaake was given one week to make an apology to Ms Among on the floor of Parliament. Instead, the Mityana Municipality legislator sought court redress.

In her acceptance speech on Friday, Ms Among vowed to be a Speaker for all political shades in Parliament.

During the last nine months when she chaired the majority of the House sessions, Ms Among projected the image of an unabashed NRM cadre. She often shot down the Opposition arguments, but on Friday the new Speaker promised to make the 11th Parliament “people-centred.”

She added: “The leadership of the 11th Parliament will continue to be guided by a vision to have a people-centred Parliament that is anchored on evidence-based debates…we shall base all our decisions on facts as presented to the House.”

This was eerily similar (if not a replication) to what Oulanyah said when he was handed the Speaker’s ceremonial mace last year.

“Indeed we committed that reason and sound logic shall be used in tabling our positions,” Ms Among echoed her former boss, adding, “This will enable us to derive correct interpretation from agreed facts. I implore everyone to be tolerant and have mutual respect.”

Healing wounds

Before Friday’s elections, Parliament and indeed the nation was polarised with different people making unpalatable statements about Oulanyah’s death. Legislators from the Acholi Sub-region questioned the death and demanded answers from the government. President Museveni has since warned that anybody who speculates and spreads false information about the death of the former Speaker will face the full wrath of the law. He said Oulanyah died of cancer as per a post-mortem from a reputable US hospital.

Mr Museveni also encouraged Ms Among and her deputy Thomas Tayebwa to put national interests first. This all came against a backdrop of a politically-charged week—one in which Chief Justice Alfonse Owiny-Dollo reawakened an age-old north-south divide with questions around how Oulanyah’s hospitalisation and death were greeted in some quarters.

Ms Among used her acceptance speech to preach reconciliation. A former Opposition Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) stalwart, President Museveni poached Ms Among clandestinely. Ms Among has not made secret the fact that she never regretted her decision to ditch the party that nurtured her from obscurity. On Friday, she attributed her rise to stardom to Mr Museveni.

“I am humbled and indeed overjoyed by the faith and trust you have placed in me. I am greatly indebted to you for what I have become today,” she said.

Reorganising Parliament

The new Speaker told the House that the economy, efficiency and effectiveness shall underpin the utilisation of the financial, material and human capital resources available.

She said the ongoing reorganisation and institutional reform of the Parliamentary Commission and the Parliamentary Service will continue until the House achieves optimal performance and adequate support to the Members of Parliament.

“Ours shall be a Parliament where the needs of the common man take centre stage in order to achieve the social-economic transformation that the NRM manifesto strives to achieve,” she said, adding, “United as we have always been, let us deliver a transformed country that we all call home. A better Uganda is good for everyone irrespective of your political affiliation.”

President Museveni also asked all leaders of the legislative branch of government to unite for the common good of the people.

 In a rare show of recognition, Mr Museveni congratulated the Opposition for putting up a decent show and implored them to unite with all the others to fight poverty.

“Now to the honourable Members of Parliament, whether you are in Opposition, NRM or in the army, in order for us to succeed as a country, you must work for the people. You all know we can get our people out of poverty, but you keep on meandering in other things,” he said.

The leader of Opposition in Parliament, Mr Mathias Mpuuga, was quick to urge the new Speaker and her deputy to walk the talk.