By Joseph Kiggundu
Mbale City Woman Member of Parliament-elect, Ms Lydia Wanyoto Mutende, has declared her bid to unseat Bukedea Woman MP, Anita Among, as Speaker of the 12th Parliament.
Wanyoto becomes the third legislator to publicly declare her bid to replace Among after State Minister for Housing Persis Namuganza and Justice Minister and also Democratic Party President Norbert Mao.
While announcing her bid , Ms Wanyoto on Friday said Bugisu Sub-region, where her constituency is a key player in Uganda’s national politics and governance.
“When we talk about accessing the national cake, it’s not just because I have won the election. Bugisu or Mbale City has a stake in the national politics of our country. So, I accept with passion, commitment and zeal [to contest for Speaker], and we will go all the way. So, between today and May 16, 2026, when we will likely vote for Speaker, we’re going to follow both the political and legal processes. From here, I will write to all MPs from Mbale City, officially informing them about what my constituents have said. From there, I will write to MPs from Bugisu Sub-region, and I will look for all the 529 MPs in the 12th one-by-one,” the outspoken former National Chairperson of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) Women’s League said during a Friday press conference at House 49 in Malukhu, Mbale Industrial City Division — a historic site where President Yoweri Museveni survived an assassination attempt in 1973.
Late last month, the top leadership of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM 0 froze the contest for the coveted Speaker and Deputy Speaker positions and endorsed Ms Among and her deputy, Thomas Tayebwa, for another five-year term in office.
Sources close to the January 27, 2026 closed-door State House meeting talked of a unanimous vote backed by President Museveni and carefully secured in the CEC resolution No 12 that technically barred competition within the NRM party for the office of Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the 12th Parliament.
Who is Wanyoto
Ms Wanyoto,54 is a senior NRM figure and formerly served as a member of the Central Executive Committee (CEC), the party’s highest decision-making organ.
She is a frequent panelist on major political talk shows, such as the Capital Gang, where she advocates for NRM policies.
The vocal veteran politician and seasoned lawyer has, in the past, generally maintained a careful and diplomatically supportive stance towards the 11th Parliament, while simultaneously positioning herself for future leadership.
She also served as a member of the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) for two consecutive terms spanning over a decade from 2001 when she was first elected.