A section of Members of Parliament from Northern Uganda want the position of Speaker in the 11th Parliament to be reserved for their region following the death of Jacob Oulanyah, or else they will not get involved in the election.
At least 102 Members of Parliament from Acholi, Lango, and West Nile sub-regions of the country form the coalition. On Tuesday, 13 MPs from the ruling National Resistance Movement – NRM party expressed interest in the seat.
However, one has since dropped out of the race and that is the health Minister, Hon Jane Ruth Aceng.
During their meeting on Tuesday, the MPs noted that Northern Uganda overwhelmingly voted for the NRM government in the January 2021 general polls where President Yoweri Museveni and NRM party won in the region for the first time in three decades.
Now, Denis Hamson Obua the Ajuri County MP in Alebtong District who expressed interest to contest for the speakership race on the NRM party ticket says that the position was allocated based on the performance of the party in last year's general elections.
He added that CEC must allow a candidate from the North to finish the term started by Oulanyah.
Meanwhile, Lillian Aber the Kitgum District Woman Representative says that currently politics in Uganda is based on regional balance as recently demonstrated in the East African Legislative Assembly – EALA by-elections where the NRM CEC ring-fenced the position that fell vacant following the death of Mathias Kasamba and James Kakooza, the former Kabula County MP was elected unopposed to replace the deceased.
The Kilak South County MP Gilbert Olanya says that MPs from Northern Uganda are expecting CEC to maintain the same precedence in the race to replace Oulanyah.
Oulanya died from a Hospital in Seattle, USA on March 20th where he was admitted for specialized treatment. He was the first sitting speaker ever to pass on since colonial administration in Uganda, serving for only 9 months.
