PLU’s Andrew Mwenda on why Anita Among cannot be defeated in open speaker race

Andrew Mwenda, the Director of Communications for the Patriotic League of Uganda (PLU), has warned party supporters and the public against writing off Speaker of Parliament Anita Annet Among in the upcoming race for Speaker.

Speaking during a podcast on Thursday, Mwenda argued that Among remains the strongest contender for the position despite PLU withdrawing its earlier endorsement of her and Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa.

While President Museveni and the NRM party had initially endorsed Speaker Among and her deputy Thomas Tayeba, Andrew Mwenda explained that the president had recently been put under pressure to reconsider this position on account of Mrs Among’s damaged public image.

“The NRM made a decision to the effect that the current speaker and her deputy Thomas Tayebwa would stay in their positions,” Mwenda said.

“Then there has been a lot of pressure on the president and the NRM not to return the speaker for the reasons everyone knows; you saw the news that she bought a car worth 1 million dollars and that at the inauguration ceremony, the dress she was wearing was worth $11,000.”

“There has been so much pressure on the president to the effect that you have this person in place who has been sanctioned and who has all these issues and allegations of corruption, why are you keeping her there? I think that pressure has induced the president to reevaluate his position.”

This week’s announcement of the withdrawal of PLU’s endorsement of Among appeared to further dampen her chances of reelection. 

Mwenda however, explained that withdrawn support did not eliminate Among from the race but instead signalled growing contestation within the NRM.

“The PLU said its previous endorsement of the speaker and her deputy was retracted and that it would follow the direction of the president. That, therefore, does not rule her out of the race. What it shows is that inside the NRM there is contestation over that job because previously, Among and Tayebwa were to be anointed, now the doors are being opened so that there is a contest to test their veracity,” he said.

But if allowed to remain in the race as appears to be the case at the moment, Mwenda believes Among would be unbeatable especially  Parliament held a free and open vote.

“I  can tell you, no one can defeat Anita Among. She is so strong in that parliament,” he said.

He added that President Yoweri Museveni would likely have to personally persuade Among to withdraw from the race if he no longer wanted her to remain Speaker.

“She is supposed to meet the president today (Thursday). My suspicion is that the president wants to advise her to withdraw from the race because if she is in the race she cannot be defeated,” Mwenda said.

“If he doesn't want her in parliament; he will have to ask her to withdraw from the race.”

The meeting Mwenda referred to later took place on Thursday afternoon and reportedly ended shortly after 3pm. Sources who attended said major political recommendations were agreed upon and would be announced in the coming days.

After the meeting, members of the ruling party were reportedly quietly asked to mobilise support for Jacob Oboth-Oboth to join the Speaker race.

Mwenda described Among as one of Uganda’s most skilled politicians and credited her political influence to both her personal networks and her partnership with her husband.

“One of the greatest politicians Uganda has produced who has skill to rally people behind her with the exception of Museveni, is Anita Among,” he said.

He further claimed that Among would attract support from both ruling party and opposition MPs if the vote went ahead.

“If they open that vote and Anita is contesting, she will get the entire opposition to vote for her…she will get 90% of the parliament. If she doesn't withdraw it will be bloody,” he said.