Anita defeated Basalirwa as Speaker of Parliament after the death of Jacob O. L’Okori.
Kampala, March 2022: Members of Parliament on Friday elected the former deputy speaker of the 11th Parliament as the new speaker.
Annet Anita Among replaces Jacob O. L’Okori. The former speaker died last weekend in the United States of America after more than 30 days in the hospital.
Among Annet polled 401 votes to sixty-six for Asuman Basalirwa. The latter conceded defeat, describing the election as “democratic unlike the others”.
Anita Among was endorsed by the ruling NRM party which has a majority in Parliament, while Basalirwa is an opposition member.
In the 11th Parliament, NRM has 330 MPs of the 519 in total.
“By the grace of God, we shall do our bit to create a better country for all in honour of the legacy of our fallen leader and brother Jacob Oulanyah,” said Ms Among, after she was declared the winner by Chief Justice Alphonse Owiny Dollo, who presided over the election.
“The new Speaker faces an uphill task of taming new schemes to change the Constitution from a presidential to a parliamentary system and unifying an already divided Parliament, especially after the demise of Oulanyah, which has pitted the north, where he hailed from, against southerners,” The East African reports.
The JEEMA party president, in accepting the results outcome, pledged to support the speaker (Anita) if she needs it.
He was endorsed by the opposition Thursday alongside Okot Junior, the FDC MP for Kioga County in Amolatar district.
“Economy, efficiency and effectiveness shall underpin our utilization of the financial, material and human capital resources available to us,” speaker Among’s re-election promise.
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