Norbert Mao, the President of the Democratic Party (DP), has announced his intention to challenge Rt. Hon. Anita Among for the Speakership of Parliament!
In his early media appearances, Mao claims his bid is driven by “pressure from MPs” and anchored on a promise to deliver an accountable Parliament. On the surface, it sounds noble. Mao is, without doubt, one of the most gifted orators Uganda has produced. He speaks well, quotes history fluently, and knows how to charm an audience.
But politics is not theatre. Uganda has suffered enough from eloquent men with empty consciences.
Strip away the rhetoric, and Mao’s record collapses under the weight of its own contradictions. He has no moral authority—none whatsoever—to lecture the country about accountability.
For 15 years, Mao has presided over one of the most disastrous leadership chapters in the history of the Democratic Party. Under his watch, DP has shrunk, fractured, and lost relevance. It is now a skeleton of what it used to be, currently with the smallest numbers in Parliament in its entire 70 years of history!
Mao perfected the art of manipulating internal processes, ring-fencing leadership positions, and weaponizing party structures to cling to power.
His most recent re-election as DP president was not democracy—it was a farce. His main challenger Dr Lulume Bayiga was blocked from nomination, ballot boxes carried from the hotel gardens where delegates voted from and taken for counting in Mao’s hotel room, the worst comedy in our political history. Delegates perceived to oppose him were intimidated, denied food despite an approved budget, and results were deliberately delayed until rivals gave up and left—only for Mao to later declare himself the winner.
This is the man who now claims he can preside over 500 Members of Parliament when he could not transparently manage a party with fewer than 10 MPs. You can’t fail as the head teacher of a Primary School and then you apply to lead a University as a Vice Chancellor!
Then there is the elephant in the room: the DP–NRM “marriage of convenience.” When Mao joined government, he sold Ugandans a lofty story. He said he was entering to negotiate a transition, push political and electoral reforms, and fight for the release of political prisoners.
Four years later—nothing. Not a single Paragraph of the political reforms has been tabled. Political prisoners continue to rot in jail. Abductions, repression, and impunity persist. Mao, once loud and defiant, has gone as silent as a grave! So how can he sell another lie to Ugandans in the name of an accountable Parliament?
Before promising accountability to Parliament, Mao owes Ugandans an account of his own broken promises.
Worse still, he dragged DP into this cooperation without broad consultation, without due process, and without the consent of party organs. A decision of historic consequence was reduced to a personal transaction. If Mao cannot be accountable to his own party members, how does he expect the nation to trust him with Parliament?
Let us be honest, even if uncomfortable: you may disagree with Anita Among’s leadership style. You may criticize her for whatever reasons, but replacing her with Norbert Mao is not reform—it is regression.
If Among has flaws, Mao represents institutionalized hypocrisy. If Among’s leadership raises concerns, Mao’s record raises alarms.
Yes, Mao is a good orator, he can do better for a government spokesperson job, he can tell the worst lies with a best smile and sweet phrases, but he is not fit for our next Speaker!
Bantu MEDIA 