Kampala — Norbert Mao, one of the aspirants for the post of Speaker to the 12th Parliament, has backed the Patriotic League of Uganda's (PLU) decision to withdraw support for Speaker Anita Among and Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa.
He described the decision as a "principled stand against corruption." He did not further elaborate on why he has chosen to tag corruption against the topmost leaders of the 11th Parliament, who are seeking to be reelected.
Speaking shortly after taking the oath as Member of Parliament for Laroo-Pece Division in Gulu City on Thursday, Mao used his political return to Parliament after two decades to launch a pointed critique of the current parliamentary leadership, warning that public confidence in the Legislature had significantly eroded.
"You cannot say you are fighting malaria and then you are a friend to mosquitoes," Mao told journalists.
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Mao told journalists that "PLU has been very consistent. I am happy that the PLU has taken a stand against corruption, and fighting corruption means you fight the corrupt."
Mao, Anita Among, and Thomas Tayebwa have been courting General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the son of President Museveni, to back their candidature for the topmost Parliament leadership posts.
Mao's intervention adds fresh momentum to an increasingly contentious leadership contest within Parliament, where alliances, succession calculations, and internal divisions within the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) are rapidly surfacing ahead of the election of Speaker and Deputy Speaker later this month.
The Patriotic League of Uganda, a political pressure group closely associated with Muhoozi Kainerugaba, had earlier endorsed Among and Tayebwa for second terms in Parliament's top leadership positions.
However, the group reversed its position this week, directing members to support candidates aligned with guidance from President Yoweri Museveni and the NRM Central Executive Committee (CEC).
The issue gained further traction after Muhoozi posted a series of social media messages questioning how Ugandan politicians afford such luxury vehicles. While he did not directly name the Speaker, the timing and context of the comments led many Ugandans to interpret them as indirect criticism aimed at Speaker Anita Among.
In several posts, Muhoozi condemned corruption and argued that Uganda did not need leaders associated with unexplained wealth and extravagance.
Sources indicate that Nobert Mao's aspiration for the Speaker's post could be part of the political juggling endorsed by the First family, including General Salim Saleh and now General Muhoozi Kainerugaba.
Mao, like Anita Among have in the past visited General Caleb Akandwanaho at his " tactical base in Gulu." While Anita Among was seen this week in a tete-a-tete conversation with the first son at Kololo Ceremonial Grounds as President Museveni prepared to take the oath for the seventh term in office.
At Thursday's swearing-in ceremony, Mao sought to position himself as a reform-oriented voice advocating stronger institutional accountability and internal parliamentary reform.
"We are the watchdogs, and we will encourage the people also to watch us because the watchdog cannot stay without being watched," Mao said.
"Citizens now think that Parliament does whatever it wants. Nobody can even say anything, but we are all under the same law."
Using an analogy involving Ugandan currency notes, he argued that all citizens deserve equal treatment regardless of their social or political standing.
"If you have a 10,000 shilling note which is brand new from the bank, and another one which is dirty, torn, and probably fastened by glue, the new one cannot buy more things than the old dirty and torn one," Mao said.
"We should treat all Ugandans equally." The remarks appeared carefully crafted to resonate with ordinary Ugandans, increasingly frustrated by widening inequality and perceptions that political elites operate above the law.
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Mao further pledged that if elected Speaker, he would establish what he termed a "caucus of the whole House," a non-partisan platform where MPs from across political divides could collectively address national challenges and internal grievances.
"There are some problems which have no party lines," Mao remarked. "It is the role of Parliament to solve problems. It doesn't matter who brings the best solution. If it serves Uganda best, that is what we should pay attention to."
Article 82 of the 1995 Constitution provides that the Speaker and Deputy Speaker are elected by MPs from among persons qualified to be Members of Parliament, but Cabinet ministers cannot simultaneously hold the Speaker's office.
As Uganda's 12th Parliament prepares for its first substantive sitting, the battle over parliamentary leadership is increasingly being viewed as more than a contest of personalities.
