Eronda
JF-Expert Member
- Dec 16, 2025
- 847
- 484
A meeting called by President Museveni with a few government officials, religious leaders, and other dignitaries at State House, Entebbe, yesterday was tense and ‘productive’, this publication has been told.
The meeting, which began at 1pm and stretched for two hours, wasted no time. Within the first half-hour, the thorny issue of endorsing Speaker Anita Among and her deputy Thomas Tayebwa surfaced, tied to a particular phrase in Clause 11 in the February 20, 2026, resolution of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party’s Central Executive Committee (CEC).
The particular clause 11 reads: “To reiterate resolution No12 of the 7th meeting (previous) of the 5th CEC meeting, to the effect that in line with precedence, the names of the incumbent Speaker (Rt Hon Anita Annet Among) and Deputy Speaker (Rt Hon Thomas Tayebwa) shall be forwarded to the NRM Parliamentary Caucus, for their adoption as candidates of the party, on the floor of Parliament. Any issues that arise shall be addressed on merit.”
Sources familiar with the meeting said the last sentence in that clause became the lightning rod for debate. The sources, who are not allowed to speak to the media, said the meeting meant that the CEC resolution of February 20, clearing the incumbents for another shot at the office, was now open for review, and CEC, the party’s apex organ, could be asked to sit afresh to reconsider its position on the Speaker race (with the deputy).
The February resolution bore the signatures of President Museveni, who is the party chairperson, and Mr Richard Todwong, the party secretary general.
Some of the prominent faces in the meeting were Speaker of Parliament Anita Among, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for East African Community Affairs Rebecca Kadaga, Bishop Anthony Zziwa of the Diocese of Kiyinda-Mityana, and Bishop Moses Odongo, the head of the BornAgain Pentecostal churches in Uganda, among others.
Multiple sources who spoke to this publication last evening said Ms Kadaga, a former Speaker of Parliament, was in the room to shed light on financial procedures during her decade-long tenure. We could not independently establish why her submission was relevant to the rest of the discussion or what her procedures were being compared with. Some of the issues discussed included corruption and governance.
One of the prominent politicians in the room was particularly singled out for corruption and a litany of other ‘sins’, including rubbing shoulders with a certain Prince (names withheld), whose religious and political views are far from welcome in some quarters. The meeting ended shortly after 3pm, with major political recommendations, which will be made public in the days to come. After yesterday’s meeting, this publication was told members of the ruling party had been quietly asked to mobilise support for West Budama Central MP Jacob Oboth Oboth to join the race.
Oboth Oboth
A State House official, however, said the meeting was a reconciliatory one, and that is why religious leaders were present. Corroborated information was not in tandem with this submission. Presidential Press Secretary Sandor Walusimbi told the Monitor: “I am not aware of any such meeting.”
Meanwhile, yesterday’s gathering came hot on the heels of the Patriotic League of Uganda (PLU), a political civic group led by the Chief of Defence Forces (CDF), Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, revoking its support for Ms Among and Mr Tayebwa for a second term of office.
Mr Kabanda told reporters at the PLU offices on Tuesday that Gen Muhoozi, who had on March 11 guided the PLU-leaning elected Members of Parliament to elect the incumbents, had revoked the endorsement and issued new guidance.
“Accordingly, the Chairman of the Patriotic League of Uganda, Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, has guided…that the Leadership of the Patriotic League of Uganda encourages its Hon. Members Elect to support the candidates that will be presented to them by H.E the President for the position of Speaker and Deputy Speaker,” he said.
This guidance came barely a month after President Museveni, who is also the NRM national chairperson, revealed that the party’s Central Executive Committee (CEC) would review its February 20 resolution in which they had endorsed the duo for another term.
CEC members during this meeting endorsed the duo’s extension for various reasons, including the smooth passage of laws that favour the ruling government, the neutralisation of the Opposition, and the maintenance of a resolution backing the individuals to rule for 10 years before others come in. This endorsement was followed by a March 4 letter to Mr Todwong, in which Mr Museveni forwarded the names of the duo for consideration in the NRM Parliamentary Caucus.
But during the official opening of the NRM retreat in Kyankwanzi District on April 8, Mr Museveni, while responding to the Aringa South MP Yorke Odria, one of MS Among’s challengers who had questioned the endorsement, said NRM CEC would look into the matter.
“We shall discuss that matter at the right time, because [the NRM] CEC had recommended that we maintain the two because it had become like a tradition, but this was our recommendation [because] it is not us who decide, we [just] recommend,” he said.
Mr Museveni added: “…We shall discuss [the matter] since we recommend, and we always support our recommendation with valid reasons [and] if Odria wants to be Speaker, we shall discuss that at the right time, and all others who want to be Speaker, we will weigh our decision of CEC.”
Five legislators have so far openly come out to dislodge Ms Among from the seat. These are Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Norbert Mao (Laroo-Pece-Democratic Party), Housing State minister Persis Namuganza (Bukono-Independent). Others are Lydia Wanyoto (Mbale City Woman MP-NRM), Odria (Aringa South-NRM), and Dr Asiimwe Florence Akiiki (Masindi District Woman MP – NRM).
Under Parliament’s Rules of Procedure, the Speaker is elected from among Members of Parliament, with a secret ballot held if the position is contested.
Article 82 of the Constitution provides for the election of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker by Members of Parliament from among themselves.
The election is conducted during the first sitting of Parliament or when a vacancy arises, under the supervision of the Chief Justice or a designated judge, through a secret ballot that requires a candidate to obtain a majority vote.
Source : Daily monitor UG
The meeting, which began at 1pm and stretched for two hours, wasted no time. Within the first half-hour, the thorny issue of endorsing Speaker Anita Among and her deputy Thomas Tayebwa surfaced, tied to a particular phrase in Clause 11 in the February 20, 2026, resolution of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party’s Central Executive Committee (CEC).
The particular clause 11 reads: “To reiterate resolution No12 of the 7th meeting (previous) of the 5th CEC meeting, to the effect that in line with precedence, the names of the incumbent Speaker (Rt Hon Anita Annet Among) and Deputy Speaker (Rt Hon Thomas Tayebwa) shall be forwarded to the NRM Parliamentary Caucus, for their adoption as candidates of the party, on the floor of Parliament. Any issues that arise shall be addressed on merit.”
Sources familiar with the meeting said the last sentence in that clause became the lightning rod for debate. The sources, who are not allowed to speak to the media, said the meeting meant that the CEC resolution of February 20, clearing the incumbents for another shot at the office, was now open for review, and CEC, the party’s apex organ, could be asked to sit afresh to reconsider its position on the Speaker race (with the deputy).
The February resolution bore the signatures of President Museveni, who is the party chairperson, and Mr Richard Todwong, the party secretary general.
Some of the prominent faces in the meeting were Speaker of Parliament Anita Among, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for East African Community Affairs Rebecca Kadaga, Bishop Anthony Zziwa of the Diocese of Kiyinda-Mityana, and Bishop Moses Odongo, the head of the BornAgain Pentecostal churches in Uganda, among others.
Multiple sources who spoke to this publication last evening said Ms Kadaga, a former Speaker of Parliament, was in the room to shed light on financial procedures during her decade-long tenure. We could not independently establish why her submission was relevant to the rest of the discussion or what her procedures were being compared with. Some of the issues discussed included corruption and governance.
One of the prominent politicians in the room was particularly singled out for corruption and a litany of other ‘sins’, including rubbing shoulders with a certain Prince (names withheld), whose religious and political views are far from welcome in some quarters. The meeting ended shortly after 3pm, with major political recommendations, which will be made public in the days to come. After yesterday’s meeting, this publication was told members of the ruling party had been quietly asked to mobilise support for West Budama Central MP Jacob Oboth Oboth to join the race.
Oboth Oboth
A State House official, however, said the meeting was a reconciliatory one, and that is why religious leaders were present. Corroborated information was not in tandem with this submission. Presidential Press Secretary Sandor Walusimbi told the Monitor: “I am not aware of any such meeting.”
Meanwhile, yesterday’s gathering came hot on the heels of the Patriotic League of Uganda (PLU), a political civic group led by the Chief of Defence Forces (CDF), Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, revoking its support for Ms Among and Mr Tayebwa for a second term of office.
Mr Kabanda told reporters at the PLU offices on Tuesday that Gen Muhoozi, who had on March 11 guided the PLU-leaning elected Members of Parliament to elect the incumbents, had revoked the endorsement and issued new guidance.
“Accordingly, the Chairman of the Patriotic League of Uganda, Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, has guided…that the Leadership of the Patriotic League of Uganda encourages its Hon. Members Elect to support the candidates that will be presented to them by H.E the President for the position of Speaker and Deputy Speaker,” he said.
This guidance came barely a month after President Museveni, who is also the NRM national chairperson, revealed that the party’s Central Executive Committee (CEC) would review its February 20 resolution in which they had endorsed the duo for another term.
CEC members during this meeting endorsed the duo’s extension for various reasons, including the smooth passage of laws that favour the ruling government, the neutralisation of the Opposition, and the maintenance of a resolution backing the individuals to rule for 10 years before others come in. This endorsement was followed by a March 4 letter to Mr Todwong, in which Mr Museveni forwarded the names of the duo for consideration in the NRM Parliamentary Caucus.
But during the official opening of the NRM retreat in Kyankwanzi District on April 8, Mr Museveni, while responding to the Aringa South MP Yorke Odria, one of MS Among’s challengers who had questioned the endorsement, said NRM CEC would look into the matter.
“We shall discuss that matter at the right time, because [the NRM] CEC had recommended that we maintain the two because it had become like a tradition, but this was our recommendation [because] it is not us who decide, we [just] recommend,” he said.
Mr Museveni added: “…We shall discuss [the matter] since we recommend, and we always support our recommendation with valid reasons [and] if Odria wants to be Speaker, we shall discuss that at the right time, and all others who want to be Speaker, we will weigh our decision of CEC.”
Five legislators have so far openly come out to dislodge Ms Among from the seat. These are Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Norbert Mao (Laroo-Pece-Democratic Party), Housing State minister Persis Namuganza (Bukono-Independent). Others are Lydia Wanyoto (Mbale City Woman MP-NRM), Odria (Aringa South-NRM), and Dr Asiimwe Florence Akiiki (Masindi District Woman MP – NRM).
Under Parliament’s Rules of Procedure, the Speaker is elected from among Members of Parliament, with a secret ballot held if the position is contested.
Article 82 of the Constitution provides for the election of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker by Members of Parliament from among themselves.
The election is conducted during the first sitting of Parliament or when a vacancy arises, under the supervision of the Chief Justice or a designated judge, through a secret ballot that requires a candidate to obtain a majority vote.
Source : Daily monitor UG
