Museveni orders Kadaga to stop Speaker campaigns

Entebe. President Museveni has called for a halt in the campaigns for Speaker and Deputy Speaker in the National Resistance Movement -NRM Party, saying the Central Executive Committee -CEC will resolve the matter.

Museveni passed the directive in a meeting between him Kadaga and her deputy Jacob Oulanya at State House Entebbe. Museveni reportedly cited chaos and degeneration of the contest.

The NRM Secretary General Kasule Lumumba last week directed Kadaga and Oulanya to reduce the tensions that were threatening to divide the party. The two had been attacking each other with Kadaga accusing her Deputy of incompetence and cowardice while the Deputy Speaker has been responding with suave, sophisticated remarks that portray the outgoing speaker as a blatant liar.

Kadaga who is seeking a third term as Speaker has accused Oulanyah of absconding from chairing the house, fearing to chair sensitive matters on the floor of the house including the removal of the presidential age limits. Oulanyah refuted these allegations calling them lies fabricated by the Speaker Kadaga.   

Now according to sources who attended the meeting yesterday, campaigns have been halted and all the aspirants have been told to remain silent, as CEC will be the final determinant of who is fronted as the flag bearer for the NRM the Speaker and Deputy Speak race. 

“The president stopped all the campaigns and CEC will resolve the matter” one of the sources who attended the meeting said.

Another source said Kadaga reportedly went as far as reminding the President he would not have a chance of getting re-elected if she had not delivered the removal of the age limits from the constitution.  But Museveni told Kadaga he didn’t need her help to get the age limit cap scrapped.

Oulanya reportedly expressed dismay that Kadaga could blatantly deny having agreed to not to seek re-election after her second term.

“What are agreements for then?” a visibly pained and disillusioned Oulanya has severally asked.