As the country shifts attention to the oncoming 450 strong 10th Parliament, it is now common knowledge that the incumbent Speaker Rebecca Kadaga and her Deputy Jacob Oulanyah are battling for the top position in the legislative arm of government.
The Foreign Affairs minister, Sam Kutesa who is also the former president of the United Nations General Assembly was said to be interested in same position though his name is now not anywhere.
According to sources, Kutesa who had already opened a campaign bureau at the Kampala Sheraton is stepping down in favor of one candidate.
ChimpReports has exclusively learnt that two Members of Parliament from the National Resistance Movement party have launched their campaigns in the ongoing party retreat at the National Leadership Institute Kyankwanzi.
Sources in the closed door retreat said the NRM Caucus Spokesman, Denis Hamson Obua has launched his intentions to be the next Deputy Speaker of Parliament.
Obua, the representative of Ajuri County in Alebtong district was a Commissioner in the 8th Parliament when he had just joined the national assembly representing the youths of northern Uganda.
When contacted on phone on Wednesday, Obua did not open up on the matter though his close friends confided that he is up to the task.
“It is not yet time to discuss that topic but I am a Member of Parliament which is sole requirement for one to be a Deputy Speaker of Parliament,” Obua said on phone.
However his close friend Tony Ayo who represents Kwania County told this reporter that “Obua is already the next Deputy Speaker”.
“That is now not a rumor, word making rounds as you have described it. Obua is our next Deputy Speaker,” Hon. Ayo said.
Another Member of Parliament who has also launched interest in the same post is Raphael Magyezi the MP for Igara County West in Bushenyi district.
Magyezi`s team is said to be already campaigning for the position in Kyankwanzi where about 70 percent of the newly elected MPs who are also voters are convened.
Efforts to reach Magyezi on phone were futile as all his known numbers were unavailable on Wednesday morning.
Magyezi is the former deputy chair of the parliamentary committee on Public Service and Local Government.
The two legislators are not practicing lawyers though the position is traditionally taken by lawyers. Out outgoing Deputy Speaker Oulanyah is a practicing lawyer. His predecessor Kadaga is also a practicing lawyer.
Kadaga’s predecessor Edward Ssekandi who is now the Vice President was also lawyer before becoming the Deputy Speaker. Obua has a diploma in Law from the Law Development Center and a degree in Social Science and Social Administration from Uganda Christian University Mukono.