{UAH} Allan/Pojim/WBK: New MPs, Nsereko gang up on Oulanyah

http://www.observer.ug/news-headlines/44143-new-mps-nsereko-gang-up-on-oulanyah

New MPs, Nsereko gang up on Oulanyah

Written by Sadab Kitatta Kaaya

Muhammad Nsereko

Deputy Speaker Jacob Oulanyah continues to face internal opposition even after the NRM caucus and the party's Central Executive Committee last week endorsed his return to the same job in the 10th parliament.

Oulanyah is afraid that Kampala Central MP Muhammad Nsereko could beat him in a secret ballot. He believes some ruling NRM MPs are out for revenge. When he pledged during the May 5 caucus meeting to work diligently for the president, the Omoro MP said he was aware that many of the caucus members support Nsereko, his only remaining challenger after the withdrawal of all other candidates, including independents.

The seven NRM MPs who were persuaded by CEC to withdraw from the deputy speaker's race included Theodore Ssekikubo (Lwemiyaga), Hamson Obua (Ajuri), Monicah Amoding (Kumi Woman) and David Bahati (Ndorwa West).

Jacob Oboth-Oboth, the independent West Budama South MP, also pulled out of the race, ostensibly for the sake of unity in the party. The deputy speaker, sources say, has already asked the president to intervene. Museveni told the caucus meeting at State House on May 5 that he would meet Nsereko, who, along with Ssekikubo, Buyaga West MP Barnabas Tinkasiimire and Ndorwa East's Wilfred Niwagaba, were expelled from the ruling party in 2013 for rebelling against party positions.
Niwagaba, who returned to Parliament, is backing  Nsereko.

The Observer understands that after the May 5 caucus meeting, Museveni met Nsereko but failed to persuade him to drop out. On Friday, Nsereko confirmed in an interview with this writer that he met the president but declined to delve into details.

"What you should know is that I am in the race for deputy speaker," the flamboyant MP said.
LUNCHEON

To many MPs' surprise, after the caucus meeting in Entebbe, Nsereko appeared to have more cash to lavish on supporters. He hosted more than 100 MPs to a luncheon on Friday, May 6, at Hotel Africana, which went on till 6pm when the gathering broke into smaller groups to further strategize.

Majority of the attendees were NRM MPs who were part of the Entebbe meeting that endorsed the CEC resolution to retain Oulanyah as deputy speaker. However, many MPs who spoke to The Observer said the CEC orders may not work when election of the speakers takes place on May 19.

"NRM directives may not apply to us and if the leaders have not woken up to this fact, they are up for a big shock because their song of party discipline is likely not to work for the 10th Parliament," said a female MP from Masaka sub-region.
THE STRATEGY

Before the Hotel Africana luncheon, the pro-Nsereko MPs held a series of small meetings at Parliament and assessed the implications of the outcome of the Entebbe caucus meeting.

"Being NRM doesn't make me lose my independence in thinking and choice…" an MP from Buganda said on Friday.

"At State House [on May 5] Oulanyah pledged to work for Museveni, not Parliament; and that is enough to make him the wrong candidate for me. I am in Parliament to serve the people, not Museveni," the MP said.

From the time he launched his bid, Nsereko has been courting majorly newcomers who constitute a majority in the new Parliament. Indeed, most guests at his Friday luncheon were the new MPs who also form the core of his campaign team. The old faces that this writer saw were Tinkasiimire, Latif Ssebaggala (Kawempe North), Harunah Kasolo (Kyotera) and Lucy Akello (Amuru), among others.

Nsereko seemed to have won the support of FDC MPs who believe Oulanyah stole the victory of their party candidate, Simon Toolit in the Omoro Parliamentary elections.

Toolit's election petition at the High court in Gulu is one of the campaign tools that Nsereko's camp is using against the current deputy speaker. Oulanyah is also being de-campaigned on account of his record in steering the 9th House in passing controversial legislations such as the highly-criticized Public Order Management Act (POMA), which restricts mainly opposition gatherings.

"We have also not forgotten that during debate that enacted that law [POMA] he suspended [MPs] Ssekikubo, Ssemujju Ibrahim Nganda [Kyadondo East], Odonga Otto [Aruu] and Angelline Osegge [Soroti], and the subsequent violent eviction of Ssemujju from the House," an MP said.

Nsereko also has a sizeable backing of Muslim MPs with the exception of Butambala's Muhammad Muwanga Kivumbi.
POLITICAL ANIMAL

From a distance, Nsereko's emergence as a potential spoiler for Oulanyah could be surprising. But close watchers of his politics would not be shocked if this independent MP defeated an NRM candidate seen as Museveni's favourite.  Nsereko is establishing himself as an astute political strategist. Although NRM is said to flow in his blood, for instance, he calculated that he would struggle to win in Kampala. He, therefore, wins as independent.

Famously, Nsereko boosted his 'independent-minded' status when he teamed up with NRM's "rebel-MPs", who were expelled by the ruling party but managed to win reelection. The party has since embraced them again.

Still, opposition MPs would see Nsereko as  someone they can do business with, as opposed to Oulanyah, a man regarded as having unbridled 'loyalty to party'.

Yet it is not unusual for Museveni to refer to Nsereko as "my son", which suggests the president sees him as a firmly NRM-leaning independent.

It means that, potentially, Museveni holds the key to this whole Nsereko puzzle. He could persuade Nsereko to put the party first and leave Oulanyah alone. Yet even if Museveni failed in that mission, he would still have a 'political son' for a deputy speaker.
sadabkk@observer.ug

New MPs, Nsereko gang up on Oulanyah

http://www.observer.ug/news-headlines/44143-new-mps-nsereko-gang-up-on-oulanyah

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