Why Opposition left Ssemujju

The second runner up in Monday’s Speaker election, Mr  Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda, has accused Opposition MPs of betraying the trust of Ugandans by not rallying behind him as a collective force against the National Resistance Movement (NRM) in the tightly contested race.
 
Mr Ssemujju, who was endorsed by the Forum for Democratic Change party, polled 15 votes out of the 524 votes cast. 
In an interview with this newspaper yesterday, Mr Ssemujju said the Opposition abandoned him in the fight to secure control for the Opposition in the Legislature. 
However, some Opposition members said the numbers were not in his favour. 
 
“Most of the members of Opposition who did not vote for Ssemujju did it because they knew that the numbers did not favour us, and they wanted to ally with a Speaker who they were branding Independent. It was about the numbers, no one is against Ssemujju. Some people will vote on principle while others want their vote to count,” an FDC MP, who preferred anonymity, said. 

Ms Betty Aol Ocan, the Gulu City MP and outgoing Leader of Opposition in Parliament, said many Opposition members gave a sympathy vote to former Speaker Rebecca Kadaga.   
“I am sure there are very many sympathisers of Ms Kadaga who were mobilising people to vote for her. Of course, it is not good for the party, I would expect all the votes of the FDC to go to our member,” Ms Ocan said.
Key figures in the FDC, including Dokolo Woman MP Cecilia Ogwal and Gilbert Olanya (Kilak South), publically expressed their support  for Ms Kadaga whom they said would be an Independent Speaker. 

Ms Kadaga, who defied the NRM position to run as Independent, polled 197 votes against Mr Jacob Oulanyah’s  310 votes. 
Mr Jimmy Akena, the Lira Municipality MP (Uganda People’s Congress), said the party left it at the discretion of each member to choose a preferred candidate.

“I had indicated earlier that I supported Oulanyah. We do not have an obligation to back an Opposition candidate. I backed a candidate who I thought would help me get my parliamentary work done and articulate issues,”  Mr Akena said. 
Mr Joel Ssenyonyi, the NUP spokesperson, said there had been poor coordination in the Opposition on the matter. 
“We did not have a joint Opposition candidate because that would mean we sit and agree but that did not happen,” Mr Ssenyonyi said. 

He said calls for a meeting with the FDC on the issue did not yield, adding that the party MPs rallied behind a candidate who stood a chance at winning and serve the interests of all MPs. 
“[We wanted a Speaker] who will make sure they offer better prospects for Opposition, that they will not stifle us even though being a minority, we will not have our views discarded. That is why many went with Kadaga,” Mr Ssenyonyi said.