KYANKWANZI
Democratic Party President General Norbert Mao has sharply rebuked Speaker of Parliament Anita Annette Among after she dismissed his cooperation with the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) as illegitimate, likening him to an unwelcome guest in the party’s “bedroom.”
Mao described the Speaker’s remarks as “bad manners, not bad politics,” arguing that such language demeans the dignity of her office.
“Seeing a holder of such a highly dignified office of speakership going to the gutters to make a statement that the party cooperation does not mean he should continue to their bedroom is beneath the dignity of the Speaker,” Mao told journalists.
He reminded Among that unlike her, whom he branded a “refugee in NRM,” his presence in the ruling party is backed by a formal cooperation agreement signed with President Yoweri Museveni.
“I was invited by the National Chairman of the NRM party as a guest. Anyone who insults a guest also insults the one who invited him,” Mao said, adding that his qualifications allow him to contest for the speakership regardless of party affiliation.
Drawing from his childhood, Mao narrated how his parents would ask him to vacate his bed for guests, stressing that respect for visitors is a cultural value. “It is the father who knows his children, not any other child,” he remarked, in a veiled reference to Museveni’s authority as party leader.
Mao further revealed that he had been removed from the list of guest speakers at the on going NRM caucus reteat in Kyankwanzi organized for NRM party. Mao was scrapped off the list of guest speakers alongside journalist Andrew Mwenda, but insisted that such exclusions do not diminish his legitimacy. “There are other qualifications to contest for speakership, and it is not only for NRM members,” he emphasized.
The exchange underscores growing tensions between Mao and Speaker Among, highlighting the fragile balance within Uganda’s political cooperation agreements.
