Opinion: Why Museveni should appoint Peter Ogwang as Chief Whip

 

 

Last week I predicted the ascension by Rt. Hon. Anita Among and Hon. Thomas Tayebwa to the top echelons of leadership in the 11th Parliament.

In my analysis, I noted that for President Museveni to tackle the current NUP needed a youthful leadership in parliament that can speak the same language that the NUP fanatics understand.

On the 25th of March, the nation witnessed the election of both Anita Among and Thomas Tayebwa as Speaker and Deputy Speaker respectively.

These two have developed a great working relationship that any political analyst would see through, that it was the golden team to deliver for the NRM come 2026.

As practice is, Museveni is a man who plans ahead of time and he seizes any opportunity that comes his way wholeheartedly.

With both the speaker and deputy business done, the only missing link now is Peter Ogwang who is currently the state minister in Office of the President in charge of Economic Monitoring.

The youthful Ogwang is a dynamic and charismatic politician who has been very consistent since he joined parliament as the Eastern Youth MP.

Very active and combative in style, yet very sociable and good team player, he has worked great with colleagues across the political spectrum.

President Museveni and the NRM fraternity at large would need a charismatic youthful Peter Ogwang for the position of Government Chief Whip.

This would be an elevation for Ogwang to the level of senior cabinet minister, but he has worked for it and the occasion demands that he is the man for the job, putting aside tribal talk that has engulfed the nation.

Ogwang is a good mobiliser, tapping into the current parliamentary leadership, he would make a great team to combat the NUP fanatics.

What NRM needs now is a solid team in parliament that can speak the same language, Ogwang has worked very closely with Anita, this would be a plus if the team is assemble to dismantle the NUP fanatical approach in parliament.

The next political battle is going to be in parliament, if the NRM is change the presidential electoral system, from the universal electoral system to a parliamentary one that is being fronted now.

Even with the fact that the NRM has the majority in parliament and can easily pass anything it so desires, the noisy NUP need a well-organized team in the parliamentary leadership to combat it.

Thus in the role of Chief Whip  if an ambitious young man like Ogwang is deployed, he would take advantage of the resources allocated to this office to step out of the box and use it for mobilization for the party.

The author is an analyst and communications specialist

fmagomu@gmail.com