By Henry Mulindwa
Yesterday, parliament chaired by speaker Rebecca Kadaga made a surprising U-turn and passed a motion applauding president Yoweri Museveni as a hero in the fight against COVID-19.The motion ironically came after the same Kadaga chaired a session last week where members properly castigated president Museveni accusing him of belittling parliament. Some members led by Gilbert Oulanyah tried to water down this motion by sneaking in Kadaga and themselves but sources indicated that the instructions to her were specific. In fact, it has emerged that there were written instructions to her office to that effect.”She was given a letter. It was strongly worded” sources said.Insiders told us that Kadaga’s change of heart wasn’t by mistake.It was rather as a result of serious pressure mounted on her after chairing a ‘nasty’ session in which Museveni lost credibility. In fact, sources suggest that after passing that alleged crude motion, Museveni allegedly summoned Kadaga together with premier Ruhakana Rugunda for a meeting. The trio discussed serious issues that bordered on reconciliation. In case that option failed, a political showdown was bound to happen.Sources revealed that Museveni was rattled by the fact that during the Kyobe retreat by NRM CEC, it was Kadaga who reportedly moved the motion recommending Museveni for another Kisanja and beyond. Kadaga is a member of NRM CEC by virtue of her position as NRM second national vice chairperson.”In Kyobe meeting, it was Kadaga who moved that motion that Museveni stands again and beyond. It’s is on record. She was the one. Now how could she be the same person to undermine the same candidate she sold to CEC and the party?” Sources privy to the details of the meeting revealed.We were told that such questions rang bells in Museveni’s head when the same Kadaga chaired a session to dig holes in his (Museveni) credibility which seemed to decompaign him at this critical moment.”Therefore, the subsequent change of heart wasn’t in out of the blue. It was as a result of that meeting which was tense” the source added.We have been told that in that alleged meeting, it was put to Kadaga that actually parliament mishandled the controversial Shs20m deal. All it needed to have done was to create a separate budget with specific programs attached and passed this budget as a stand alone item.”But it was wrong for them to have encroached on the budget of another sector (read health). It was a sign of greed” the sources added.Kadaga, who’s one of the major landladies in Busoga sub-region mainly Jinja is currently riding an icy boat with the executive and judiciary after they castigated parliament for having ‘looted’ national coffers under the guise of fighting COVID-19. The MPs awarded themselves with shs10bn something which caused public uproar and the president directed the members to surrender this loot. Kadaga on the other hand, gave parallel orders to members not to surrender the money even after court also directed the same. Kadaga has since accused the executive particularly the National Taskforce on COVID-19 of wasting shs59bn given to buy relief by supplying quarantined people with expired milk and rotten food items. Government is yet to respond to this allegation. Our sources now suggest that in case Kadaga refused to tone down, she was bound to face a full-scale political bombardment in addition to facing economic setbacks.”She has several plots of land almost in every district in Busoga. But her main plots are in Jinja. She has land but it is not developed. So, apart from her hotel in Kamuli, her economic base isn’t solid to sustain a protracted political battle” sources said adding that Kadaga sometimes sells these to make ends meet during campaigns. 

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