Parliament Speaker Rebecca Kadaga yesterday claimed one of her opponents for the Speaker job is ‘sponsoring’ stories in the media to decampaign her. She, however, did not name the opponent.
Ms Kadaga, who is seeking a second term as Speaker, is facing a challenge from Mr Jacob Oulanyah, her deputy. She also claims Foreign Affairs minister Sam Kutesa is secretly eying the Speaker job, although the latter has denied having any interest in the job or decampaigning her.
“The Idea is to show that Kadaga works more with the Opposition MPs (than the ruling party MPs),” Ms Kadaga said.
She was reacting to a story published last week in one of the local newspapers that claimed that Ms Kadaga had named a campaign team that mostly included Opposition MPs.
Ms Kadaga was speaking at the opening of a two-day workshop for journalists accredited to cover the 10th Parliament, which opens next month.
As the D-day to electing the next Speaker draws closer, the race has been gathering more momentum, and has seen Ms Kadaga aim missiles at her deputy, Mr Oulanyah, who has been hitting back as well that he is ready to run against her and doesn’t mind becoming a back bench MP in case he loses.
Ms Kadaga has accused Mr Oulanyah of being greedy, saying he should have served as Deputy Speaker for two terms and let her serve two terms as she did when she deputised former Speaker and now Vice President Edward Ssekandi.
Ms Kadaga yeaterday turned the heat on journalists covering Parliament, accusing them of overstepping their limits.
“There has been a misconception that as long as you report in Parliament, you are entitled to be here 24 hours a day,” she said.
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