Why I miss Kadaga but also warmly welcome Oulanyah
Having to choose between two devils is as tricky as making a pick betwixt two angels!
NRM stalwarts came to this realisation when they recently had to decide between Rebecca Alitwala Kadaga (Kamuli Woman MP) and Jacob L’Okori Oulanyah (Omoro County MP) for speakership in the infant 11th Parliament.
It was truly a delicate balancing act! Why? Because, zeroing on the politically astute but somewhat egocentric Kadaga for another “kisanja” inevitably had some serious tribal, regional, gender and geopolitical ramifications. Similarly, fronting the bubbly oratorically savvy but sometimes an uncritically loyalist Oulanyah risked alienating a large cross-section of party zealots.
It was indeed a catch-22 situation for even an ordinary apolitical mortal like me.
I remember subjecting both names to phonetic analysis, and each came off as a melodious angelical call!
I also recall correctly spelling and writing each of them on paper. Again, the resultant symmetry was simply too astonishing to ignore.
However, it was the placement of both names on a weighing scale (so to speak) that mesmerised me most as the duo proved to be perfectly balanced!
That is frankly why it never mattered to me whether Kadaga or Oulanyah got christened as the duly elected Speaker of the 11th Parliament. The two legislative supremos equally merited that coveted stewardship role in the August House. Pure and simple!
But, as fate would have it, the political pendulum finally swung to Oulanyah’s favour and he is now the chief commandant of the House.
Congratulations Jacob for that well deserved victory! Well-earned because he brings to the table a patently unique set of personal attributes that will prove handy during his five-year captaincy of the parliamentary process.
I particularly admire his quick wit, enviable power of speech, diplomatic tact, respect-winning political aura and meticulous attention to the basics of social etiquette. What is more, Oulanyah spices up these qualities with his measured flamboyance, immaculate dress code, seductive baritone voice, a freely dispensed mustached smile and of course, his disarmingly entertaining Kanda Bongo Man dance strokes.
If only he could also avoid blaspheming as when he once equated President Museveni’s leadership acumen to Jesus Christ’s messianic agenda for humanity!
As for the outgoing Speaker, honourable Rebecca Alitwala Kadaga, I say: Weep Not Child. Which Ugandan doesn’t know that you have left an indelible mark on the annals of this country’s history?
The demonstrated wizardry with which you aptly steered the potentially explosive affairs of the 9th and 10th Parliaments; the powerful role model image you offered the girl-child; your pace-setter role in women’s empowerment in national, regional and international fora; the ground-breaking development initiatives you undertook for Busoga sub-region generally and for your Kamuli constituents in particular; your willingness to lend any complainant your busy ear; and your comprehensively motherly disposition will forever remain etched in my memory.
Although you oversaw or even abated what mainly members of the Opposition describe as aggravated defilement of the 1995 Constitution of the Republic of Uganda, I unreservedly forgive you. Certain things were simply beyond your control! Long live Kadaga! Long live Oulanyah!
H. E. Okurut Kedi
