Among takes the day
Parliament has voted NRM’s Anita Among as Speaker of the August house on Friday during a special sitting at the Kololo Independence grounds, to succeed the deceased Jacob Oulanyah.
Among who was competing against JEEMA’s Asuman Basalirwa won the elections by a large margin polling 401 votes against her rival who polled only 66 votes .One vote was invalid. 468 members participated in the elections.
Basalirwa seemed unbothered by the results of the election as he laughed and continued interacting freely with his colleagues
She has been duly declared Speaker of the 11th Parliament by the Chief Justice Owiny Dollo,after reading out the votes.
Among has served as Deputy Speaker of Parliament for close to one year now since May 24, 2021, under the late Speaker Jacob Oulanyah. Oulanyah had only presided over parliament business for 9 months and 24 days since his elections.
The seat fell vacant when the former, Rt Hon Jacob Oulanyah died after battling a long illness in Parliament.
The election of the Speaker is guided by Rule 5 of the Rules of Procedure which requires that the Speaker shall be elected by MPs with voting rights in a plenary sitting that will be presided over by the Chief Justice or a Judge designated by the Chief Justice.
Among will now preside over the election of her Deputy. The race is tight between former government Chief Whip Thomas Tayebwa and FDC’s Moses Okot Bitek. Tayebwa was declared as an official flag bearer unopposed, during the NRM Parliamentary Caucus on Thursday.
Article 82(4) of the Constitution of Uganda provides that no business shall be transacted in Parliament other than election to the office of Speaker at any time that office is vacant.
The deceased speaker Jacob Oulanyah will be buried after the election of a new speaker.
Who is Among;
She is a Ugandan accountant, lawyer and politician who serves as the Deputy Speaker of the 11th Parliament of Uganda (2021–2026). Among also concurrently serves as the elected member of parliament for the Bukedea District Women Constituency, the same position she held in the 10th parliament (2016–2021).
She was in FDC party before she joined the ruling NRM where she was voted as the Deputy speaker of the Parliament.
Among takes the day
Among was born in Bukedea District on 23 November 1973. She attended local schools for her elementary and secondary education. She graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree, from Makerere University, in 2005. In 2008, she was awarded a Master of Business Administration degree, also by Makerere University.
In 2018, Among graduated from Kampala International University, with a Bachelor of Laws degree. At that time she was in the process of attaining qualification as a Chartered Certified Accountant.
or two parliamentary election cycles in 2007, when Bukedea District was created, and 2011, Among lost the District Woman Representative seat to Rose Akol of the National Resistance Movement political party.
Among, a long-time member of the opposition Forum for Democratic Change political party, ran in 2016 as an independent candidate. She won and is the incumbent MP.[
In 2020, she joined the National Resistance Movement (NRM) after falling out with her party FDC and won the party primaries. In the 2021 general elections, Among was one of the few legislators who was elected unopposed to join the 11th parliament though her victory was contentious because the electoral commission blocked some of her competitors from nomination.
