Bu Johannah Nantongo
Mbale City Woman MP Lydia Wanyoto has dropped her earlier bid for the Speaker of Parliament slot and instead opted to contest as Deputy Speaker under the ruling National Resistance Movement ticket.
On Saturday Wanyoto formally picked nomination forms for the deputy speaker position at the NRM Electoral Commission offices in Kampala .
“What was happening previously was consultations,” Lydia Wanyoto told journalists shortly after receiving nomination forms and guidelines from Tanga Odoi, the NRM Electoral Commission chairperson .
Her entry into the deputy speaker race adds to the growing list of contenders seeking the position, including incumbent Thomas Tayebwa.
The NRM on Saturday opened the expression of interest process for party members seeking to contest for the positions of Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the 12th Parliament ahead of a parliamentary caucus meeting scheduled for Sunday afternoon.
The race had initially appeared largely settled after the Parliamentary Leadership Forum reportedly fronted Jacob Oboth-Oboth and Tayebwa for Speaker and Deputy Speaker respectively.
However, the latest developments suggest an increasingly competitive internal contest within the ruling party, particularly for the deputy speaker slot where more than 10 Members of Parliament have reportedly expressed interest.
According to Odoi, the names of all aspirants will now be forwarded to the party’s Central Executive Committee (CEC) for vetting ahead of the caucus meeting.
“Details of the people who have expressed interest will be sent to the party CEC for vetting,” Odoi said.
CEC is expected to convene on Sunday morning before the NRM parliamentary caucus sits later in the afternoon to agree on the party flag bearers for the two top parliamentary positions.