A fresh political storm has erupted inside the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) retreat in Kyankwanzi after Democratic Party (DP) president general and Justice Minister Norbert Mao traded sharp public barbs with Speaker of Parliament Anita Among, exposing deepening tensions over the race for the speakership of the 12th Parliament.
What began as a routine induction retreat for NRM Members of Parliament quickly turned into a high-stakes political theatre after President Yoweri Museveni, who is chairing the gathering, appeared to contradict an earlier position that had suggested the party’s Central Executive Committee (CEC) had already settled the speakership question.
Addressing the retreat, Museveni reportedly said that “when time comes CEC will discuss” the matter, a statement that has now thrown fresh uncertainty into the contest and raised eyebrows among political pundits.
The President’s remarks are being interpreted as a subtle but significant departure from an earlier memo that had indicated CEC had already taken a position, widely understood to favour incumbent Speaker Anita Among and her deputy Thomas Tayebwa.
The development has breathed fresh life into Mao’s long-whispered interest in the speakership, particularly after it emerged that he is attending the Kyankwanzi retreat on the personal invitation of Museveni.
But it was Among’s own remarks to the retreat that set off the latest confrontation.
In what was widely seen as a direct swipe at Mao and his cooperation arrangement with the NRM government, Among told delegates:
“We do cooperate with other political parties but the cooperation doesn’t mean that you come up to my bedroom; you remain in the compound.”
She reportedly went further and suggested that a “visitor” should not be allowed to contest for the speakership, a statement many interpreted as an attempt to paint Mao as an outsider seeking to overreach within the ruling establishment.
Mao did not hold back.
In a blistering response on X, the DP leader accused the Speaker of displaying both political immaturity and disrespect.
“This is not just bad politics. It is bad manners! Only the head of the family has the final word on who can access which room in the home. He doesn’t need lectures from a recently adopted child! Above all, when you insult your father’s visitors you’ve insulted your father,” Mao fired back.
His “recently adopted child” jab was particularly cutting, given Among’s own political journey.
Before firmly aligning with the NRM, Among was associated with the opposition Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) and only crossed into Museveni’s camp in recent years.
That history has now handed Mao a potent line of attack portraying Among as someone who also entered the “house” from outside, only to now shut the door behind her.
The public spat has laid bare a bigger political question: whether the NRM will allow an open contest for the speakership, or whether the position will ultimately be ring-fenced through internal party machinery.
For now, Museveni’s carefully chosen words have ensured one thing, the battle is far from over.
And in Kyankwanzi, what was expected to be an induction retreat has suddenly become the first real battleground in the war for Parliament’s top seat.
