Kampala Central MP and contender for the post of Deputy Speaker of the 10th Parliament, Muhammad Nsereko, was this evening violently ejected from a meeting at State House by Special Forces soldiers .
Tempers flared after Nsereko, who had been invited for the meeting with his fellow National Resistance Movement (NRM) party leaning independent legislators to join the NRM caucus to deliberate on the issue of Deputy Speaker, rejected pleas by party chairman, Yoweri Museveni to bow out of the race in favour of incumbent Jacob Oulanyah.
According to MPs that attended the meeting, Nsereko remained adamant even when fellow legislators pleaded with him that his insistence was annoying Mr Museveni.
“Since you have refused to agree with us,get out of my meeting,”a furious Museveni ordered.
An angry Museveni also ordered Speaker Rebecca Kadaga to the podium-to explain reports that she is behind Nsereko’s bid for the Deputy Speaker. She strenuously denied.
Nsereko is contesting for the slot of Deputy Speaker previous held by Mr Oulanyah in the 9th Parliament. Oulanyah is seen as a puppet of the Executive in the House and therefore, to many liberal and opposition Members of Parliament, he is an obstacle to their cause whereas, Nsereko is moderate in his debates which means he is accommodative to all sides in the house.
Mr Museveni is wary of subjecting Oulanyah to an election because Nsereko boasts of support from the 112 strong Uganda Women Parliamentary Association (Uwopa) and the influential Buganda Caucus-which has over 100 MPs in Parliament.
