Speaker Among toadies up to Muhoozi at birthday fete, vows to ‘wallop’ opposition in 12th Parliament

• Anita Among asked Gen Muhoozi to guide MPs on working with security forces.

• She declared loyalty to Muhoozi and said she would “run faster” if told to join PLU.

• Among claimed she swallowed the opposition in the 11th Parliament and vowed to “wallop” them again.

Speaker of Parliament Anita Among last night openly aligned herself with Chief of Defence Forces Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba and his Patriotic League of Uganda (PLU), declaring her loyalty and vowing readiness to follow him politically if required.

On Thursday night during a dinner for Members of the 12th Parliament to mark Muhoozi’s 52nd birthday, Among used the occasion to praise the army chief and request his involvement in Parliament’s induction process. 

Muhoozi was represented by his uncle and National Vice Chairman of PLU, Michael Nuwagira Kaguta, commonly known as Toyota.

“Chairman Toyota, you give feedback back on today's function. We want to request that during our induction, Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba should come and deliver a paper to Members of Parliament on how best as the Parliament of Uganda, we can work together with the security forces to make Uganda even better than it is,” Among said.

The speaker expressed readiness to join Muhoozi’s pressure group when required, declaring,  “If they tell us to shift to PLU, I will run faster than anybody.” 

Her remarks will in interpreted as part of her efforts to consolidate support from Muhoozi’s PLU pressure group as she seeks a second term as Speaker in a tense contest that also features Democratic Party president and Justice Minister Norbert Mao.

Among also used the event to defend her political journey from opposition politics to the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM)

“As the second deputy vice chairperson of the NRM party…they say I came from the FDC; I am now in the ruling party and firmly grounded in it. I am like a jigger. I came like ekiddo (water hyacinth). I came from humble beginnings, like grass, and I am going nowhere.”

Speaker Among, who was once a member of the Forum for Democratic Change before crossing to NRM, has in recent years positioned herself as one of the ruling party’s most visible loyalists.

Among further claimed that during her first term, she effectively neutralised the opposition in Parliament and promised an even tougher approach in the incoming House.

“I will spend whatever it takes to get what we want to get. For the sake of MM we will do whatever it takes,” she said.

“For your information, members, I can proudly say we didn't have opposition in the 11th Parliament, it got swallowed. And the 12th Parliament is going to be walloped. This is going to be the easiest Parliament”

Her remarks come amid long-standing criticism from opposition MPs who have accused her of frustrating debate, suspending dissenting legislators and using her office to favour government positions.

Among has faced repeated backlash over controversial suspensions of opposition MPs and over the passage of contentious laws, including the UPDF Amendment Act, which opposition figures argued were pushed through Parliament with limited room for dissent. 

Critics have also accused her of weakening oversight and independence in the House.

The speakership race is expected to be one of the most closely watched battles in the 12th Parliament, with Norbert Mao emerging as one of the major challengers to Among’s hold on the office.

Mao has recently sharpened his criticism of the Speaker, arguing that Parliament must be led by someone who protects institutional independence rather than political camps.