Yesterday during NRM’s National Executive Council (NEC) meeting, former speaker Rebecca Kadaga made a passionate plea to be retained as the party’s second national vice chairman. Kadaga faces stiff competition from Speaker Anita Among. Efforts to have one of the candidates step down for another have failed. Here is Kadaga’s speech in full.
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Your Excellency, the National Chairperson,
Distinguished Delegates,
Members of our great party,
I stand before you today as a candidate for the position of First National Vice Chairperson (Female) of the National Resistance Movement.
I have been a loyal member of this party since its inception. My journey began in 1989 as Chairperson of RC1 in my village in Bugabula, then to RC2, and later to the National Resistance Council. I have never belonged to any other political party. All my life, my commitment has been to the NRM.
Our party guidelines are very clear. When one seeks office, they must show what they have done for the Movement in the last ten years. Those rules have not changed. Yet the person now aspiring to this office—Rt. Hon. Annet Anita Among—has served in the NRM for only three years. Whether she was doing other work before, that is her business, but in terms of service to the Movement, she has only three years of experience.
Your Excellency, I myself served seven years as a backbencher before becoming Minister of Regional Cooperation. I exercised patience and respect for the structures of the party. Why then should someone who has barely served three years rush to the top of the Movement?
I have supported this party in all ways. As Deputy Speaker, I ensured that budgets were passed. I defended the interests of our people, and I stood with the NRM line. I marketed this country abroad. I am now serving as First Deputy Prime Minister, advancing regional integration.
I want to remind you, Your Excellency, that just a few years ago I was publicly humiliated, yet I endured that pain quietly and continued to serve the party. I took my people with me, and they remained loyal to the NRM.
I have warned that if this matter goes to contest, it will cause serious problems in my community. People will think the party is fighting me, not simply engaging in competition. That is not healthy for the politics of Uganda.
Let us reflect: why should senior members who have built the party be cast aside to make room for newcomers? This office of First Vice Chairperson (Female) was created in 2005 after lobbying by party members, not for personal convenience. It was meant to strengthen representation.
Suppose I were a man holding the position of Speaker—would I also come to take the seat of First Vice Chairperson? Would we allow one person to sit in two high offices? It is unfair and unhealthy for the Movement to concentrate such power in one person.
Your Excellency, I am the most senior female leader in this party. How can the senior be asked to step aside for the junior? What kind of precedent are we setting?
This is not just about me. It is about the values of the NRM—commitment, loyalty, patience, and respect for structures. If those values are ignored, then what message are we sending to the membership and to the country?
Your Excellency, I therefore appeal to you and to the delegates: let us uphold the integrity of the party, let us reward commitment, let us protect our structures. I remain committed to the Movement and to serving under your leadership.
