Last night the National Resistance movement(NRM) 'big wigs' took over the hedlines, as they expressed interest in the now vacant speaker of the 11th parliament seat, after the death of former speaker Jacob Oulanyah.
As the law states, the deceased speaker can only be put to rest after voting their predecessor. This saw some ministers yesterday scramble to hand in their letters of interest for the position, among which was the State minister for Health and Arua Municipality woman MP, Dr. Jane Ruth Acheng and by close of last night, 13 NRM members had handed in their papers.
However, in the early morning hours, Minister Acheng posted a letter on her social media channels, showing how she had withdrawn from the race and she was now focusing on serving Ugandans through her ministry. "I wish to thank my party the NRM for the acceptance and the support I have received since the time I expressed my interest . I pledge to continue serving my nation in my current capacity as the Minister for Health diligently and with loyalty to my party." read part of the letter.
While Dr. Acheng was being undecided, her fellow MP, who was the depuyu speaker, Hon. Anita Among was resigning from her deputy speaker role to also take part in the contest for the top position and as of now, the Central Executive Committee (CEC) has declared Anita Among as the party's flag bearer, come Friday when the voting will take place.
The opposition seems silent while all this happens. Some have made memes depicting Mityana MP Hon. Zzake Francis as Speaker, while others have tipped Kampala Woman MP, Hon. Shamim Malende of NUP to take on themantle. Who will win? Who will lose? We await Friday.
