Anita Among has told president Yoweri Museveni that Rebecca Kadaga is the one fighting her during a heated State House meeting, The Pearl Times has learnt.
The meeting at State House went well into the evening, with Anita Among and Museveni discussing the speaker’s political future in the face of corruption scandals, reignited by the Rolls Royce saga.
Kadaga, is the outgoing deputy minister and minister for East African affairs and Kamuli District Woman MP. Until 2021, Kadaga was a powerful speaker of parliament.
The political rivalry between Rebecca Kadaga and Anita Among has, over the past four years, evolved into one of the most defining power struggles within Uganda’s ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM). What began as an internal contest for parliamentary leadership has since expanded into a broader battle for influence within both Parliament and the party’s top decision-making organs.
The contest is not merely personal, but symbolic of generational transition, shifting loyalties, and the recalibration of power around President Yoweri Museveni.
The seeds of the Kadaga–Among rivalry can be traced back to the fiercely contested 2021 Speakership race between Kadaga and Jacob Oulanyah. The contest exposed deep fractures within the NRM, with competing factions rallying behind each candidate.
Kadaga entered the race as the incumbent, campaigning on her decade-long experience and historic role as Uganda’s first female Speaker. Oulanyah, her deputy, framed his bid as a generational shift, promising institutional discipline and alignment with the party leadership.
The election results delivered a decisive blow to Kadaga, with Oulanyah, ending her ten-year tenure at the helm of the legislative arm of government.
The outcome underscored the decisive role of NRM endorsement and exposed Kadaga’s waning influence within the party hierarchy.
As Oulanyah sent Kadaga packing, Anita Among – who had crossed from Dr Kizza’s Besigye’s Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) and got close to the ruling NRM officials that matter – become deputy speaker as Oulanyah got elevated.
The death of Jacob Oulanyah in March 2022 marked a turning point in Uganda’s parliamentary politics. By that time, Kadaga was already a senior member of Museveni’s cabinet in the executive arm of government.
Her supporters urged her to run and reclaim the speakership that Oulanyah had taken away from her a year earlier.
Anita Among, who had been serving as Deputy Speaker, emerged as the natural successor. Her stewardship of parliamentary proceedings during Oulanyah’s prolonged illness positioned her as a continuity candidate. Her proximity to the office and growing acceptance within NRM structures made her a strategic choice for the party.
Although Rebecca Kadaga, who had lost the Speakership in 2021, was widely seen as a potential contender. However, her strained relationship with sections of the NRM leadership—stemming from her decision to challenge the party’s official candidate in the previous election (after NRM CEC chose Oulanyah over her)—significantly weakened her prospects. It was clear to Kadaga that the party was reluctant to reopen internal divisions by backing her return.
The NRM’s endorsement of Among effectively settled the race before it reached the parliamentary floor. With the party commanding a dominant majority, Among secured an overwhelming victory when Parliament voted, defeating opposition candidate Asuman Basalirwa by a wide margin (401 votes against 66).
Among’s victory was a consolidation of a new political order within Parliament. It signaled not only the end of Kadaga’s decade-long dominance as Speaker but also the emergence of a new bloc aligned with Among and the ruling party’s evolving priorities.
The 2025 NRM CEC Battle: Kadaga vs Among
By 2025, the rivalry had shifted from Parliament to the heart of the NRM’s Central Executive Committee (CEC), where Kadaga sought to defend her long-held position as Second National Vice Chairperson (Female). Kadaga had occupied the role for nearly two decades, making her one of the party’s most entrenched figures.
Anita Among entered the race with significant momentum, leveraging her position as Speaker and her expanding grassroots mobilisation network. Her campaign deployed coordinators across regions and actively courted delegates, reflecting a more aggressive and modern campaign style.
The contest quickly escalated into a high-stakes internal battle. Multiple top NRM leaders’ meetings failed to produce consensus, forcing the matter to be decided through a vote by delegates. The stalemate illustrated the depth of division within the party’s top organs.
Among ultimately defeated Kadaga, ending her long tenure in the position, a major shift in NRM internal dynamics, signalling the rise of a new power centre and the decline of one of the party’s longest-serving figures.
The context exposed the fragility of loyalty within the NRM and highlighted how political survival increasingly depends on alignment with the party’s current power structure rather than historical contribution.
During the 2025 CEC contest, there was a tense exchange before the NRM’s National Executive Council, where Kadaga questioned Among’s eligibility and experience within the party. She argued that leadership positions should reflect long-term service, stating that her rival had only recently risen within NRM ranks.
Among responded by defending her record and positioning herself as a symbol of renewal. She emphasised her mobilisation efforts and ability to attract opposition figures into the ruling party, framing herself as a more effective political organiser for the NRM’s future.
The exchanges were emblematic of a deeper ideological clash—between Kadaga’s emphasis on loyalty and institutional memory, and Among’s appeal to pragmatism and alignment with current power centres.
Fast forward to 2026 Speaker Race
Now, sources tell The Pearl Times that Anita Among dragged Kadaga in her recent woes in the speaker race, telling the president and national chairman of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) that she believed Kadaga was interested in a comeback for the speakership.
Anita Among accused Kadaga of witchhunt and of trying to spoil her reputation so that MPs of the 12th parliament and NRM CEC members could reject her.
It should be remembered that a special meeting of at least five NRM CEC bosses – excluding Anita Among and her allies – was held ahead of today’s meeting between Museveni and Anita Among at State House, as reported Here.
It is also said that President Museveni brought up evidence to pin Anita Among regarding her expensive house in London UK, on top of the Rolls Royce saga. (See Details Here and There).
