Museveni Cracks Whip as Uganda Gets New Parliament Speaker
President Yoweri Museveni has issued a stern warning to ministers and leaders within the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM), declaring that his new focus will be on leaders who seek power but fail to improve the lives of ordinary Ugandans.
The warning came as Uganda’s 12th Parliament elected Rt. Hon. Jacob Marksons Oboth-Oboth as the new Speaker and Rt. Hon. Thomas Tayebwa as Deputy Speaker during Monday’s sitting at the Kololo Ceremonial Grounds.
Museveni congratulated the new leadership and thanked Members of Parliament for conducting what he described as a peaceful and transparent election process.
“I congratulate the Rt. Hon. Speaker Jacob Oboth-Oboth and Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa and thank the MPs for carrying out their mandate of voting peacefully and transparently,” Museveni said shortly after the election.
Oboth-Oboth, the NRM candidate, secured a landslide victory after polling 441 votes against 60 votes for National Unity Platform’s Paul Mwiru and 15 votes for Democratic Party president Norbert Mao.
Meanwhile, Tayebwa was overwhelmingly re-elected Deputy Speaker after obtaining 457 votes, defeating Asinansi Nyakato who garnered 45 votes and Sarah Aguti Nalule who secured 14 votes.
However, Museveni used the occasion to send a strong political message to government officials, warning that the era of inactive leadership was over.
“Regarding this Parliament, I have been patient before, but this term there will be no room for leaders who seek titles without helping the people they lead,” Museveni said.
The President directed NRM leaders to immediately return to their constituencies and ensure government poverty alleviation programmes are working effectively at parish level.
“In every parish there is Shs 800 million in low-cost capital. I have already laid a trap for all those people through programmes on the ground,” Museveni said.
“All this time I have been monitoring and I don’t want to embarrass people. Ministers, if I go to your area and I don’t find any development, I’ll sack you,” he warned.
The President questioned why thousands of Ugandan youth continue leaving the country in search of employment opportunities despite existing government empowerment programmes.
“Why should young people keep going out of the country to look for jobs?” Museveni asked, adding that ministers and local leaders would now be held personally accountable for poverty levels in their areas.
“This is Kisanja Hakuna Mchezo. Enough is enough,” the President declared.
Museveni also noted that although NRM candidates won comfortably, the ruling party would work towards building a more united Parliament after Democratic Party president Norbert Mao attracted support beyond his party numbers in the House.
“The NRM candidates obtained more votes than the NRM members in the House, and I note the votes our ally Mao took away. We shall address this because we want a united Parliament that serves our people better,” Museveni said.
The election of the new parliamentary leadership comes amid intense public scrutiny and pressure to reform Parliament following corruption claims and investigations that dominated debate around the outgoing leadership, particularly pinning former speaker, Annet Anita Among.
Political observers say the anti-corruption agenda is expected to dominate the 12th Parliament as the new leadership attempts to restore public trust in the institution.
Following the conclusion of the sitting, the new Speaker Oboth-Oboth, Deputy Speaker Tayebwa, and Chief Justice Flavian Zeija escorted President Museveni from Kololo Ceremonial Grounds as MPs celebrated the new parliamentary leadership.
