In a recent two-day event hosted by the Speaker of Parliament, Anita Annet Among, about 300 MPs and parliamentary staff as well as her constituents were in attendance.
While the event received praise, it also sparked controversy, with some critics claiming it was used as an opportunity to showcase her high-end upcountry home. This has prompted discussions around her net worth and management of Parliament.
Executive Director of the Center for Constitutional Governance (CCG), Sarah Bireete, commented in an interview with the Nile Post that many MPs attended the event out of fear of potential political backlash, hoping to curry favour for foreign trips or speaking opportunities.
There are also concerns about the Speaker's alleged high-handedness and management style.
Excerpts below
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How would you describe the current political situation in the country as someone who closely watches what happens in the country?
The main actors in the governance don't take the constitutions seriously. The Constitution only referred to as a fallback or as a by the way, instead of being the main architecture governing the conduct of people in public offices.
You have the president who seems to have taken a backseat as far as exercising his executive authority to protect the constitution is concerned. We are heading for the next elections, as declared by the Electoral Commission in publishing the roadmap without resolving issues that happened in the previous elections such as the kidnaps, the missing persons, the conduct of the army in elections, the curtailing of opposition rallies and mobilisation in the country and the conduct of police. These remain unresolved.
What measures should be taken to ensure free and fair elections, considering that the commission appears to lack the mandate to address the issues you raised?
The Constitution stipulates the kind of elections that should be held in this country. Free and fair elections and the functions of the electoral commission in the Constitution are clear. I think as much as the Electoral Commission cannot command the army but do they even voice it as a concern? Can they say we cannot do our work as envisaged in the Constitution? They are too timid to even mention that they cannot do their work as envisaged in the Constitution, because of the prevailing conduct of the army. They cannot even talk about it. So who will raise it?
If you are given a job to cover a story and you are unable to do it, isn't it you to give reason as to why you have not covered a story. They(EC) don’t account to the people.
The Commission recently stated that the head of state respects the law. What is your opinion on this?
I want to use an example of the Soroti East by-election where Justice Simon Byabakama (EC chairperson) was presented with a pre-ticked ballot and we saw him just looking at it and the media was there. Was that within the law? Is it within the law that they must publish ballot papers and leak them to some candidates a day before elections? I think people should stop running away from responsibility. The Electoral Commission has a hand in messing up elections. They leak their own property, the ballot papers, how do people get to them? There was a similar situation in Oyam North just a month ago. So, they should stop running away from their mess and they should account to Ugandans.
Do you believe that the electoral reforms are sufficient to deliver credible elections in Uganda?
Legal reforms alone without reforming the practice wouldn't be sufficient to deliver credible elections in this country. Most of the things that are done to violate the sovereign rights of Ugandans in choosing their leaders, are intentional. And are in the practice of the police, the Army, and of the Electoral Commission. There are two top centers that are messing up elections, the Electoral Commission and the army and they will not run away from their mess. The Electoral Commission is charged with the protection of election materials. How do people access ballot papers outside the polling areas? How do people come with a pre-ticked booklet?
In every election, somebody comes with a predictable booklet, how do they get it? So that is their mess. All the chaos that we have gone through as a community has been rooted in the misconduct of the army.
The Speaker of Parliament recently welcomed Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba in Bukedea and also escorted him to the Teso sub-region. What impact does her action have on the institution of Parliament?
I think for me the unfortunate outcome of Bukedea was a demonstration by the speaker and her deputy that they have no capacity to protect the Constitution and constitutional governance in Uganda.
The conduct of the speaker and the deputy speaker does not give confidence as to the protection of the Constitution and Constitutional governance.
The conduct of the army with the one general in a constant campaign trail is worrying yet the character of the national army is clearly defined as nonpartisan, nonpolitical and obedient to civilian authority.
The speaker organised the political rally for a serving army general in violation of article 79 (3) of the Constitution, Article 2008 (2) of the Constitution and the UPDF Act and the UPDF code of conduct and in violation of Political Parties and Organisation Act Section 16. All these provisions prohibit the serving Army general from engaging in political events or even politicking.
All that so-called endorsement was a demonstration of their weakness that they cannot protect the Constitution and constitutional governance as mandated under Article 79 of the constitution. So very unfortunate.
By managing to mobilise close to 300 MPs, does Speaker Anita Among's achievement signify power or money?
Well, there is talk of high handedness by the speaker and the way she manages Parliament. You either take her order or she follows you up with a witch hunt. She will not approve you to go on any trip, she will fight in your constituency, she will not allow you time to speak on the floor of the House. So, some of the MPs were scared of that high handedness of the speaker. And that is what whips them.
But also there is the other aspect of what to do these MPs want for themselves because they are adults and they should make decisions. But the whole gathering was unfortunate and they undermined the authority of Parliament.
Speaker Among’s home fete: Was it show of power or wealth?
In my view, it is a demonstration of the poverty of the mind. If you look at Elon Musk, his house has been trending. He is the richest man in the world. He has a two-bedroom house. Warren is still staying in the two-bedroom apartment.
Some people who grew up in a not so good background, find the need to demonstrate that they have arrived. So, I would tag the Speaker’s house in two ways. One is the poverty of the mind, but also the arrival syndrome. She wants to demonstrate that she has arrived amidst (terrible) poverty in her district. So, she wants the rich people to keep looking at the huge infrastructure as they struggle with their poverty. It is all in the poverty of the mind. Is not the demonstration of power.
How would you assess the quality of Parliament and the current debates compared to previous ones?
So far, I think this is the worst Parliament on the stage. So finally in our history I think this is the worst Parliament we have so far had. Maybe the next one will be weaker than this but so far, so it goes in that descending order, that their performance is in that descending order the new one is always weaker than the previous.
What do you think about the speaker's decision to decline Nathan Nandala Mafabi's request to remove Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda as FDC Chief Whip amidst conflicts in the party?
On that point. I think she was right, because she was responding to a petition. Other than the letter from the Secretary General of FDC, there was a petition by nine MPs, who stated that the Constitution of FDC was not followed because the chief whip is appointed by NEC. All members of parliament are in the NEC. So ideally if Ssemujju was to be replaced, he would also be present in a meeting that replaces him together with his fellow MPs. And there was no such meeting. So I think on that point, she is right.
In your opinion, does the ongoing conflict within FDC pose a negative sign for the opposition ahead of 2026?
Yes, the dampening effect from FDC is bad for everyone interested in governance issues in Uganda not just FDC because under multi-party system, people compete for power through political parties. So, we need to see capable political parties competing for power and public office in this country. When you see them getting weaker and weaker, and disintegrating like UPC and DP is really frustrating and it's a dampening mood for everyone interested in the wellbeing of this country.
Is President Museveni's threat to eliminate opposition in Uganda becoming a reality?
The president did say in 2016 that he would eat opposition like Samosa and he would finish them off and he started with the Federal Alliance. He normally targets two principals (in a political party). So the Federal Alliance picked the president and the deputy. He came to UPC and picked Jimmy Akena and his wife. He came to DP and picked Norbert Mao and the Secretary General Gerald Siranda. And now in the FDC, apparently, he is targeting the Secretary General and the president Patrick Oboi Amuriat to destroy FDC.It is becoming true. Unfortunately, political parties per say, don't mean that the end of opposition. Opposition can remain with the citizens, even when political parties have been destroyed in such mechanisms.
Why should Ugandans be concerned about the deteriorating political situation in the country?
It is because it deprives them options to choose the people they think are better leaders for them. It deprives them of that choice, free choice as who should govern them.
It also deprives them of spaces to participate in their governance because political parties are vehicles for citizen’s participation in governance. So this is what they miss and it is bad.
Amongst internal bickering, where do you foresee the future of the opposition in the next few years?
The future of opposition in this country lies with the people who seek change. The 3.5 million people who voted for the National Unity Platform(NUP) even after rigging elections are the future of the opposition in this country. The citizens who want change will continue seeking for change. And those are the opposition.
In your view, does Uganda not need the support of the World Bank, as stated by the president in his response to the Bank?
Uganda is still a developing country. The question is can we develop on our own without loans and grants, my answer is no. The World Bank is not just about loans. The World Bank gives technical expertise; it gives grants but also it is the most favorable lender worldwide. When you look at China, its lending conditions are stringent to the extent that they attach sovereign property. Our airport was mortgaged. Airport collections are going to an extra account to recover China money; the World Bank can never do such things. I don’t know whether other properties have been mortgaged to China. The World Bank would never take a mortgage from the sovereign nation. When you look at the third lending option is commercial banks, Interest from commercial banks starts from 7 %.
The state doesn’t need to do that expensive borrowing to develop. You cannot develop. That loan is problematic. I don't know whether we shall pay it back on time and it has repercussions. So, we don’t need such loans and that is why the World Bank remains the most favorable.
The second aspect to our development is on the public wastage of money. The IGG is on record to have said that Shs 10 trillion of the budget is lost through corruption. That is a lot of money. When you go away from corruption, you look at the size of the government. We don’t need the 82 ministers. We need to go back to the Constitutional threshold of 23 cabinet ministers and 23 junior ministers giving the total of 46.
How does the size of the government affect the growth of the country?
The expenditure. Each member of Parliament has three vehicles that you service as a taxpayer. Each minister has body guards, each minister has about 10 workers at office and home. Then look at the money they earn. The money that we spend on these ministers is too much. The second wastage is Parliament; we don’t need all those MPs. We need to cut that Parliament by half.
Look at the number of districts, most of them are unviable. They cannot even offer the basic services to the people. We need to merge these districts back maybe to 58.
We don’t need 96 presidential advisers and yet most of them say they have never met the president. Like he appoints them to pick pocket money. We don’t need 109 agencies that duplicate the work of ministries. We need to retain only income generating agencies.
