By John Okello Lapok
It is official. President Yoweri Museveni is now the Chief of State for the next five years! His first assignment now is to name his new cabinet. However, before doing that, things at the August House must be settled first to know who the speaker of the 12th parliament of Uganda is.
For now, all eyes are on three people, including former speaker Anita Among, former Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa, and former minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs Norbert Mao. For Deputy Speaker, former state minister for Housing, Persis Namuganza and former Security minister Lt. Gen. Henry Tumukunde, are in a tight race, although inspectors said Tumukunde holds an upper hand since he hails from Western where Tayebwa also comes from. However, Namuganza also comes in on a gender scale!
However, as all goes on, there is one man to watch! The former Minister for Defense and Veteran Affairs, and West Budama Central MP, Jacob Oboth-Oboth!
Briefly, Oboth is a former judicial officer in government, but most importantly, before ascending to cabinet, he held the position of the Chairmanship of the Rules, Discipline and Privileges Committee and the Chairpersonship of the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee. These were two vital committees doing a lot of sophisticated work for the Chief of State, and Oboth handled them with extreme proficiency. That is why he was later posted to the cabinet.
ENTER SPEAKERSHIP
Inspectors informed us that shortly after the death of former speaker Jacob Oulanyah, Museveni looked around for a possible successor. At the time, the Rebecca Kadaga effect in parliament was still visible, with the ousted speaker having not stepped into parliament, possibly in protest. Yet, he did not want her to reclaim the seat, having gone through a lot in 2021 to try to extinguish her candidature against his favorite Oulanyah.
He henceforth summoned a group of NRM functionaries. The team was led by James Kakooza, the former MP for Kabula County, and now an EALA MP! According to inspectors, the President informed them of his desire for Jacob Oboth-Oboth to succeed Jacob Oulanyah and, therefore, asked them to go and gather intelligence among legislators regarding Oboth-Oboth’s marketability.
Well facilitated, the Kakooza group allegedly pitched camp at the Serena Hotel for its operations. The group returned with a positive answer, and the Chief of State only remained with the task of summoning the NRM CEC to present the idea of Oboth taking over as speaker.
However, inspectors said that upon reaching CEC, Museveni was shocked to see the majority of the members reasoning as if they were on a jukebox!
“One by one, they claimed the law required that before the speaker is buried, he or she must be replaced first with a substantive speaker, not his or her deputy. That position must be filled first before burial can be done,” explained an inspector, quoting the rigorously talking CEC members. Inspectors said, Jjajja Museveni, wanted Oulanyah to be buried first, with the Deputy Speaker Anita Among playing all the ceremonies, and later, the race for speakership be opened.
“Museveni is a true African. He respects African culture. The purpose of the Deputy Speaker is to sit in when his or her boss is not around in any way. That’s why he preferred that the Deputy Speaker carry on with the tasks, including the burial of the speaker. He didn’t want politics to be played when someone was lying in front of him. That’s un-African,” explained an inspector.
We were told, upon seeing that CEC members were all speaking in favor of replacing Oulanyah before his burial, that he grudgingly accepted the Deputy Speaker becoming the Speaker, and Thomas Tayebwa was agreed upon as the Deputy Speaker! By that time, he hadn’t yet marketed his man Oboth.
Upon being ‘overpowered’, Museveni tactically asked his Kakooza group to dismantle its networks but also remain active in case its needed. He also investigated his own CEC members regarding their unusual actions and decided to address their issue later. That’s why 90% of them were kicked out during CEC elections, save for Hajji Moses Kigongo and Kadaga, who allegedly fought a personal war from day one to retain her seat in CEC.
To try to shield Oboth-Oboth from possible isolation in parliament, Museveni, in one of the CEC sittings, asked him, ‘Oboth-Oboth, how could you stand for speakership without informing me?’
The man from Budama, reportedly composed himself and told the General from Rwakitura, “Your Excellency, I am sorry’ in proper show of gentlemancy even when he knew the Mugagga had secretly endorsed his candidature.
Back to the Kakooza group, inspectors said Museveni never wanted it to dry out, but needed it to keep within the confines of parliament without requiring anyone for permission to access the August House. Soon, one of the NRM MPs for EALA, and former Kakuuto MP Mathias Kasamba, died, and a replacement was required!
NRM CEC member for Buganda region at the time, Godfrey Kiwanda, immediately positioned himself for the seat, unaware that the Chief of State held a different view! Using his financial muscle and influence, Kiwanda grabbed the NRM flag.
Unknown to him, Jjjajja wanted Kakooza to have free access to parliament, having lost his MP seat in 2021. The political vacuum created by Kasamba, therefore, provided a superb opportunity for Kakooza to return to parliament as an EALA MP with all privileges of a local MP! In any case, he hailed from the same axis (Masaka) where Kasamba hailed!
Quietly, the Kakooza group received a sizeable amount of oil to deflate Kiwanda. That is how Kakooza returned to parliament to date, but as EALA! The same Kakooza received backing from pro-Kadaga members, accusing Kiwanda of having been a staunch Oulanyahist who sent their boss down the drain.
On the other hand, inspectors suggest Museveni began receiving data indicating that some parliamentary forces were trying to undermine Oboth-Oboth back in the constituency with a view to causing his downfall in 2026. The primary target was for Oboth to lose the NRM MP primaries, and if he ever won them, he was supposed to remain in the bushes in the general elections.
One of the MPs from Tororo was named in this alleged scheme together with a dark-skinned, vertically challenged NRM man from the same district.
Inspectors said Oboth was, therefore, asked to organize a homecoming fete, where the President sent his son and CDF Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba. Indeed, Muhoozi went there as the Chief Guest.
“Museveni doesn’t just send his son. It is on only a few occasions that he has allowed him to attend such functions for individuals. He has done it to a few people, and they are holding big positions in government now. That means, he has a special attribute in such individuals,” explained an inspector!
During his address to NRM MPs in Kyankwanzi, Museveni said the speakership race would be reopened, altering previous assertions that CEC had sole candidatized both Anita Among and Thomas Tayebwa for Speaker and Deputy Speaker, respectively. By press time, inspectors told us that already, at the NRM Electoral Commission, this idea has been secretly adhered to. Inspectors said the Commission is secretly reaching out to members to prepare their CVs for the Expression of Interest soon. “Honorable, you send in your papers,” an inspector quoted one of the NRM EC members confiding in one of the MPs from Eastern Uganda who wants to be Speaker also. For now, Persis Namuganza and Henry Tumukunde are said to be in a tight race for DS but also, we got it that from 10 am tomorrow, CiC Gen. Museveni is supposed to meet former speaker and former Deputy Speaker. Watch this space!
