Deputy Speaker Tayebwa weighing his options?

Caught between Among’s scandals and securing his future

Kampala, Uganda | IAN KATUSIIME | When the UK announced sanctions on Speaker of Parliament Anita Among, members of parliament put up a spirited defence of their boss as they are wont to. There were also strongly worded statements from the Minister of Information Chris Baryomunsi and Parliament Communications Director Chris Obore. But notably missing from the cacophony of voices defending Speaker Among was her highly visible deputy, Thomas Tayebwa.

Tayebwa did not issue a statement and neither did he speak to journalists about the UK sanctions which have been the most significant punitive measure against Among in her short-reign so far as Speaker. The UK sanctioned Among for being a beneficiary of the theft of iron sheets meant for the vulnerable people of Karamoja in northern Uganda. The UK used the Global Anti-Corruption Sanctions regime to go after Among who is the first Ugandan politician to incur the wrath of the law.

Speaker Among was targeted alongside two ministers; Mary Goretti Kitutu and Agnes Nandutu who were implicated in the theft of iron sheets but inevitably the attention has been on her. As she faces mounting pressure from the sanctions which include a UK travel ban and asset freeze, there is growing speculation on what her continued troubles mean for her relationship with the Deputy Speaker who has remain relatively unscathed as she drowns in scandals.

Early this year, Among was again in the spotlight as revelations of her financial impropriety came to light over her use of taxpayers’ money—from collecting obscene per diem for travels she did not make to dubious spending on community activities in her constituency and using parliament funds to pay her private workers—there seems to be no limit on the Speaker’s indiscretions.

Among and Tayebwa have maintained a cordial public relationship in spite of the former’s misdeeds. Tayebwa has not publically contradicted her or made any indirect criticism of his boss in spite of the stark differences in their reputation and image.

But Tayebwa’s marked silence on the UK sanctions has prompted evaluations from analysts, members of parliament and those of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) on what looms for parliament leadership in the near future.

“I knew he wasn’t going to say anything,” said a source with inside knowledge of parliament workings. “I just know there’s a brewing rivalry between them.” The source who preferred anonymity added, “Among is very sure he is the one fighting her to taker her job.”

On May 8, the two appeared together at a funeral service of the mother of Ofwono Opondo, the government spokesperson. It is likely that Tayebwa kept quiet as a measure of self- preservation in since he has also been vocal about his opposition to homosexuality.

In June 2023, Tayebwa forcefully spoke out against homosexuality while attending an African, Caribbean, and Pacific-European Union (ACP-EU) parliamentary assembly in Belgium.

Obore, the Parliament spokesperson, said the iron sheets saga was as a ruse by the UK to sanction Speaker Among for passing the Anti-Homosexuality Act.

At the height of the iron sheet saga last year, an MP close to the Speaker told The Independent that it was too early for a rivalry between Among and Tayebwa.

Although Among has amassed a lot of power as Speaker, Tayebwa has also established himself as an influential power player. He maintains close relationships with MPs, and many people in the government. He is well known in the business community and has carved a niche for himself as a popular speaker at events.

According to informed sources, it is Tayebwa who lobbied for the creation of a constituency in his district in Mitooma that enabled longtime minister Kahinda Otafiire to come back to parliament. Incidentally, Tayebwa has an understated rivalry with Otafiire, a Bush War veteran, with whom they have sparred in public. Otafiire is now minister of Internal Affairs.

While Deputy Speaker Tayebwa maintains a dignified respect for Speaker Among, observers are watching the scene to see how much longer he can contain himself before their relationship ends like that of their predecessors: former Speaker Rebecca Kadaga and her former deputy-turned-successor Jacob Oulanyah.

Among has been under fire for misappropriation of taxpayers’ money, the iron sheets scandal, irregular appointments at Parliament, and ostentatious displays of wealth. She splashed on a brand new Range Rover for her husband, MP Moses Magogo for his birthday.

In her first term as Speaker, she has also been widely criticised for the manner in which she hounded Mityana Municipality MP Francis Zaake out of the Parliament Commission. Then there was also the influence peddling she exercised while Uganda was choosing representatives of the East Africa Legislative Assembly (EALA). All this happened while she was barely halfway through her term.

Tayebwa has also been implicated in the irregular appointments at Parliament through his hiring of relatives and financial impropriety.

He has also showed loyalty to Among during some of the most contentious issue in their reign. During the plan to censure Persis Namuganza, state minister for lands in 2023, Tayebwa was holed up in the US on official duty. Among asked Tayebwa to come back and chair proceedings of Namuganza’s censure as a favour. The Speaker reportedly did not want the fight between her and the minister to appear personal.

Tayebwa obliged and cut short his trip to take up the chair. But to Among’s dismay, Museveni did not act on the censure as the President has the final say on the censure of a minister according to the constitution.

The passing of the Anti-Homosexuality Act which Among touted as a major piece of legislation earned her a US visa ban. The UK sanctions have emboldened some of her critics like Leader of Opposition Joel Ssenyonyi, MP for Nakawa West.

“If you say that the only visa you care about is the one to Bukedea then why do you seem bothered by the UK sanctions? You seem to be rallying us to join you in becoming angry over this issue” Sssenyonyi told Among during a plenary session on May 03.

But even in 2021, while she was still Deputy Speaker, there was already trouble brewing in Among’s chambers. Dossiers made the rounds online accusing Among of soliciting for bribes and also accusing her of extortion from different government officials and business people. One of the dossiers was a whistleblowers’ petition received by the Inspector General of Government (IGG). The petition was calling for a forensic investigation into the conduct of Among.

Due to the litany of scandals Among is embroiled in, there is intrigue and speculation over second term prospects. In 2016, Kadaga’s rivalry with Oulanyah spilled out in the open. Kadaga made a strong case for why she deserved a second term arguing that former Speaker Edward Ssekandi got a second term and for that she was equally deserving.

Coincidentally, Kadaga had also risen on the banner of her tough stance on homosexuality, asserting the independence of Parliament and looking out for MPs.

It took the intervention of President Museveni for Oulanyah to step down and calm the fight between the two principals at Parliament. But the relationship of the two never recovered.

Iron sheets scandal

The iron sheets scandal through which Among and several other ministers were beneficiaries has been her biggest test. Besides the UK sanctions, Among was already eating humble pie for the act.

A few months after the scandal broke last year, the Speaker was in panic following reports that her file at the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) was one of those under scrutiny as she faces potential charges in relation to the scandal.

The IGG also probed over her the matter. There was also a reported plan for security to swoop in on at her home in Muyenga.

A delivery note from the Office of Prime Minister revealed that the head teacher of Among’s private school in Bukedea received 500 iron sheets on June 23, 2022. The delivery note is now a crucial part of the paper trail in the investigation that attracted DPP; CID and IGG.

As the scandal broke earlier in the year, Among started to sounded contrite. “After thorough analysis and looking at it that the iron sheets were meant for Karamoja not Bukedea, I have taken a personal decision and responsibility as a leader to buy 500 iron sheets and give it back,” said Among while presiding over parliament. She is also the Bukedea District Woman MP. “I don’t want to be a shame to parliament and I’m doing this for the House,” Among said.

Kira Municipality MP Ibrahim Semujju has turned up the heat on theft of iron sheets leaving Speaker Among in a pickle. At one point, she retorted Semujju, You have bored us with mabati, is it the first thing to be stolen?”

In the last one year as Among has panicked and dithered over the iron sheets scandal and then the sanctions, Tayebwa has watched and kept a distance perhaps weighing his options.