By Ronald Katabarwa
Africa-Press – Uganda. The Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister and Democratic Party President Nobert Mao is attending the NRM Parliament Caucus in Kyankwanzi this week.
I have watched with astonishment some sections of both NRM & Opposition heavy weights bashing Hon. Mao for declaring that he wants to be the Speaker of Parliament on two accounts;
First by the NRM that he is too ambitious and running faster than he should.
They also accuse him of “Cowardice” for not ditching his Democratic Party to fully join the National Resistance Movement like his Competitor and her Deputy.
They further disagree with his Candidature on his previous involvement with the opposition and some of the comments he made while he was still opposed to Government.
The Opposition on the other hand, accuse him of betrayal, selfishness and being weak willed.
Understandably, both the NRM and Opposition are being introduced to the New Normal, “Coalition Politics.”
Since 1986, the NRM has practiced Coalition Politics but in a rather different form.
The entry of Paul Kawanga Semwogerere, Jacob Oulanya, Beatrice Anywar, Alex Onzima, Betty Kamya and other into Government was the NRM way of forming a Coalition government.
It is therefore not a strange thing to the Ugandan Politics, however it is manifesting itself in a New and modern form.
For both the NRM and the Opposition Political Actors it should be known that no man doesn’t change or rescind his earlier position except a fool.
For as long as man lives, man will shift his position. Man is not Static, he is dynamic and therefore Mao is no exception.
For the NRM sympathizers, the position Mao held 20 years ago can not be used against him yet in the last 5 years, he has demonstrated unequivocal loyalty to the National Resistance Movement Government Agenda.
To the Opposition sympathizers, it is foolhardy to accuse Mao of lacking the will to fight for his beliefs yet he has chosen to get to the decision making table and make the changes that you need from with in.
To the NRM, Mao should be praised that while others joined the NRM as loners, Mao brings on table 6 Members of Parliament from Opposition Democratic Party, a structured Political Party and the greater Northern Uganda.
Strange as it may appear, Mao brings and offers the New Normal. Coalitions present a new formula of working together without necessarily agreeing on all Political ideologies.
This has been the NRM ideology since 1986. You may defer in Religious beliefs, political background and many others things but work together for the good of the Country-Uganda that unites all of us.
Germany, Netherlands, Italy, Sweden, Spain, Belgium, Kenya and others are led by Coalition Governments.
These are considered some of the best democracies or some of the promising democracies in the world and in Africa.
Germany for example, is under the Grand Coalition. After the fall of the “Traffic Light Coalition” in 2024, the Grand Coalition was formed between the Centre-Right Unionists-Christian Democratic/ Social Union (CDU/ CSU) and the Centre leftists- Social Democratic Party.
In 2025, the Grand Coalition won the Election with the New Chancellor Friedrich Merz from CDU and Lars Klingbeil from SPD as his Deputy.
In Kenya, the Kenya Kwanza Administration took the day in the 2022 General Election.
President William Ruto is from the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) Party, the Speaker of the National Assembly Moses Wetangula is from the Forum for the Restoration of Democracy-Kenya (Ford-Kenya) Party.
The Prime Cabinet Secretary and Foreign Affairs Minister Musalia Mudavadi is from the Amaani National Congress (ANC) Party.
What Mao and his DP bloc are attempting to introduce in Uganda is simply, “different backgrounds and ideologies coming together for the Development of Uganda.”
Mao’s speakership bid is therefore a valid attempt to formalize and normalize Relationships of this nature.
The discussion therefore should shift from whether Nobert Mao has the legitimacy to run for Speakership or even negotiate for a bigger position with in an NRM dominated Parliament, to what Mao and his other opponents stand for.
The bid is valid, Mao has been around (in the Political arena) for a very long time, let his bid be discussed on those merits and demerits.
To the Sympathizers of the current leadership, there are many valid grounds on which to campaign for their term’s renewal without watering down Mao’s bid or even his legitimacy in working with the National Resistance Movement.
The writer is a Political Scientist.
Source: Nilepost News
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