Ugandan lawmakers elect Anita Among as Speaker in the wake of Oulanyah’s death.

Anita Among has been elected as the new Speaker of Uganda’s Parliament, succeeding Jacob Oulanyah, who died last Saturday in the United States.

Oulanyah was in a hospital in Seattle, Washington, receiving treatment.

The Bukedea District Woman MP received 401 votes, outnumbering Bugiri Municipality legislator Asuman Basalirwa, who received 66 votes.

Ms Among was backed by the ruling NRM, which has a majority in Parliament, while Mr Basalirwa is a member of the opposition. NRM has 330 legislators out of the 519 elected MPs.

“By the grace of God,” Ms Among said after being declared the winner by Chief Justice Alphonse Owiny Dollo, who presided over the election, “we shall do our part to create a better country for all in honour of the legacy of our fallen leader and brother Jacob Oulanyah.”

The new Speaker faces a difficult task in taming new proposals to change the Constitution from a presidential to a parliamentary system and unifying an already divided Parliament, especially after the death of Oulanyah, which pitted northerners against southerners.

Insiders in the ruling party sounded defensive when asked about the challenges facing the new parliamentary leadership and preserving Oulanyah’s legislative legacy.

“The new leadership will only succeed if it adheres to parliamentary procedures.” “I also believe the late Oulanyah’s stance on parliamentary behavior, which centered on proper time management among legislators, conducting serious policy research, and being organized on the job, may help improve the quality of parliamentary deliberations,” said Captain Francis Babu, an NRM leader and former Kampala Central MP.

Mr Babu, on the other hand, warned the new leadership to be wary of populist demands.

“Changing the parliamentary leadership succession system should not be guided by popular sentiment.” “Based on existing practices in other jurisdictions, we need to conduct comprehensive studies on the best options for filling leadership gaps in the Speaker’s office,” he said.

The government was forced to expedite the process of electing a new Speaker because Parliament cannot conduct business while the Speaker’s office is vacant, as stipulated by the Constitution.

Ms Among, 48, who had been the deputy Speaker since May 24, 2021, and presided over Parliament for the majority of the time while her boss battled cancer, is the second woman to hold the position of Speaker, following Rebecca Kadaga, who held the position from 2011 to 2021.

With Oulanyah’s death, the competition for his job has begun, with the government rushing to have a new Speaker sworn in by Friday in order for Parliament to restart and pay its respects to the deceased leader, who had only been in office for nine months.

There were 13 MPs in the campaign to replace him, including Ms Among and four Cabinet members.

However, others maintained that Oulanyah’s death did not leave his post empty since the supreme law defines the Speaker as the “Speaker of Parliament, and includes the Deputy Speaker.”

“The hurry to vote was needless,” lawyer Nicholas Opiyo tweeted.
“Parliament is in a state of turmoil.” The new administration must strike a compromise between conflicting political party interests and those of the general public, which includes a sizable young population.

“It is apparent that Uganda is afflicted with many angry, hungry, and desperate individuals who believe the government has disregarded its socioeconomic commitments to them and deserves revenge for its errors.” The economy is still suffering as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak, and the new legislative leadership should lead debates on how to address this quandary and restore residents’ optimism.

“Balancing elements of professional merit and political loyalty in public leadership comes with age and takes a long time, which explains why there was too much emphasis placed on loyalty during the speakership election battle,” said Agnes Kirabo, Executive Director of Food Rights Alliance, a civil society organization that advocates for agricultural sector reforms.