Ssemujju Nganda declares bid to oust Kadaga as speaker

Kira Municipality Member of Parliament, Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda, has officially declared his intention to contest for the office of the Speaker of Parliament in the 11th Parliament.

Ssemujju made the announcement in a press conference held at Parliament on Tuesday morning.

"I'm going to be a speaker of Parliament and a speaker of Ugandans," Ssemujju said while declaring his bid.

Ssemujju now joins a growing list of contestants for the office of the Speaker of Parliament, which includes incumbent Rebecca Kadaga and deputy Jacob Oulanyah. Although both have not yet formally declared interest in the seat, their campaign teams are reportedly canvassing support for them among legislators.

Asked where he gets the confidence to take on incumbent Kadaga, Ssemujju told the press that he has sent a letter to all presidents of opposition parties that have their members in Parliament, reminding them of their duty as opposition, and asked them to support his bid.

"I have told them that as opposition, we will be asked to provide an alternative on everything that happens. It will be terrible if we assemble here on the first day to cheer the NRM. I am asking for their support," Ssemujju said.

Ssemujju said that his 'fairly good knowledge' of the Parliament has also earned him trust among NRM legislators.

He said that when voted, he will not be a speaker for the opposition, but a speaker for all Parliamentarians, including NRM legislators.

According to the Kira Municipality legislator, having joined parliament first as a journalist and later  in 2011 became an MP, he is now going to serve his third term which gives him  vast knowledge to run the affairs of the August House as speaker

"It is these good tactics that I have  learnt over a period of 20 years both as a journalist  and MP that I want to employ to make parliament greater."