I pity my competitor- Tayebwa

The ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party flagbearer for the position of Deputy Speaker of Parliament Hon Thomas Tayebwa has said that despite being old friends with Opposition candidate Okot P Bitek, he can not help but pity him today.

Parliament will today elect members to replace the late Jacob Oulanyah as a speaker and Anita Among as Deputy Speaker. Among is one of the candidates to replace her former boss.

However, while speaking on Friday morning ahead of the elections, Tayebwa said that he is expecting to sail through smoothly using the massive numbers of the NRM.

“When you take the flag of the NRM, it has been the case that you eventually turn out to be the person holding the position. This is because of the numbers we have,” he said.

Tayebwa said that he intends to galvanise the House which has been the reason why members of the caucus warmed up to his candidature.

He said that his social skills have enabled parliament to make strides in business and those are the same skills that will give him a resounding victory over Okot.

“I pity my competitor. I have known him well before and we are friends. I will hug him and we shall continue with the business, but today I pity him,” he said.

Meanwhile, Tayebwa’s competitor expressed hope that he intends to bring an upset to the NRM and their candidate.

Okot said that he has made alliances with MPs from the North including in the NRM, legislators on the independent ticket as well as several legislators of the NRM from West Nile.

“My candidature is different; I am a candidate of new dynamics. I am a different candidate and the numbers are on my side. Some MPs from the NRM are not happy and they are ours now, they may not acknowledge this publicly but will do so in silence while voting,” he said.