Who will succeed Betty Ocan as LoP?

The dust is settled, the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) has been deposed as the biggest Opposition political party in Parliament, with the arrival of the National Unity Platform (NUP) party, which will have  majority Opposition MPs.

The ruling NRM party won majority seats in Parliament with about 313 MPs while Robert Kyagulanyi’s NUP emerged second with 61 slots.

Kyagulanyi, aka Bobi Wine, is the NUP leader, who is also the outgoing Kyadondo East Member of Parliament.

The FDC that initially enjoyed Opposition dominance for the last three five –year terms, came in third position with 34 slots.

The FDC has been providing the Opposition leadership since the rebirth of multiparty politics in Uganda.
Article 81 of the constitution as amended in 2005 provides for the Leader of Opposition (LoP).

NUP is also set to take up nine other positions in Parliament that include the opposition chief whip, and leadership of the four accountability committees; the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (Cosase), Local Government Accounts Committee (LGAC), and Committee on Government Assurances.

All these positions come with budgets that make them attractive and powerful. While the party has officially put off discussions about the positions in Parliament saying their focus is on reclaiming the lost victory, sources familiar with the inside party affairs say names are being flouted for different positions.

Prominent on the list of MPs poised for LoP include Mathias Mpuuga of Nyendo-Mukungwe County in Masaka City, Patrick Nsamba Oshabe of Kasanda North and Medard Lubega Sseggona of Busiro County in Wakiso District.
The three are also senior members and have served in Parliament before.

Also among the contenders are Ms Betty Nambooze, the Mukono Municipality MP,  Muwanga Kivumbi Muhammad of Butambala County,  Abed Bwanika from Kimaanya Kabonera, Francis Zaake of Mityana Municipality, and Ms Brenda Nabukenya, the Luweero District Woman MP.
Of the three MPs under consideration, Mpuuga and Sseggona are senior members who have served in Parliament for the last 10 years.

Put to the secretariat on how the party is handling the transition process from FDC to NUP, the party secretary general, Mr David Lewis Rubongoya, said the discussions about the LoP and other accountability positions are on hold.

He said the party is still battling to reclaim the lost presidential victory and that other discussions will come at a later time.

“Right now, we are not talking about selecting LoP. Our focus is on the presidential elections results, which was robbed,” he said.

Similar sentiments were echoed by Mr Mpuuga and Mr Ssegona, who also said the party is prioritising securing the lost presidential victory before embarking on other positions.

Mr Ssegona said as a party, they have rejected the results of the presidential elections and are working to take back what they fraudulently lost to President Museveni.

“I didn’t know that I was also a front runner for that position, but even if so, currently that is out of my mind. For us we are looking at the position of the prime minister, the vice president and forming the Cabinet. The Leader of Opposition should be for NRM who fraudulently declared themselves as the victors,” he said.

Mr Mpuuga, also the NUP vice president for central Uganda, said while the party has many capable leaders, the discussion right now about those positions is diversionary.

“Our focus is on the presidential election results which we are fighting for. We have not settled for anything and even when at a later stage we decide to take the Opposition seat, we have very competent and well qualified people,” Mr Mpuuga said.

Mr Bwanika said while his party is disputing the results of the presidential elections, the party should go ahead to identify leaders for different leadership positions in Parliament.

“For those positions that are accrue to the Opposition in the Parliament, the final decision lies with the party leadership. We hope NUP will appoint good people,” he said.

Bobi’s take
We were unable to get a comment for Mr Kyagulanyi on the latest developments,  but while meeting part of the 61 MPs-elect a few days ago, he rallied them to use their newly-acquired status to fight for a new Uganda.

“The people of your constituencies have accredited you and this is when you begin to give that leadership. While they want you to represent them in Parliament, they want you to assert the voice of freedom and an end to the dictatorship. You don’t forget the mission,” he said.

We were unable to get comments from the FDC on how the transition to NUP is being handled. Ms Aol did not respond to our repeated phone calls by press time.

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