The ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) has officially closed the exercise for receiving expressions of interest from Members of Parliament seeking to contest for the positions of Speaker and Deputy Speaker of Parliament ahead of the 12th Parliament leadership elections.
While speaking at the close of the exercise on Saturday evening (May 23rd 2026), the Chairperson of the NRM Electoral Commission, Dr Tanga Odoi, confirmed that the process had attracted three aspirants for the position of Speaker and sixteen candidates for Deputy Speaker.
Dr Odoi said the exercise was conducted following a directive issued by the party’s Central Executive Committee (CEC) during its sitting on May 22, 2026, instructing the Electoral Commission to open nominations for interested NRM legislators.
“The expression of interest started yesterday and today we have concluded the exercise. We now have three candidates for Speaker and sixteen candidates for Deputy Speaker,” Dr Tanga Odoi said.
He revealed that all the aspirants will appear before the Central Executive Committee for vetting on Sunday morning, where the NRM Electoral Commission will table their names alongside summarised curriculum vitae for consideration.
“The people who have expressed interest in the positions of Speaker and Deputy Speaker will be vetted by the Central Executive Committee tomorrow. After presentation by the Electoral Commission, CEC will guide on the way forward,” Dr Odoi explained.
According to him, the decisive role now lies with the NRM Central Executive Committee, which will determine whether the ruling party fronts a single consensus candidate for each position or allows all aspirants to proceed to the parliamentary caucus for internal voting.
“If CEC says we take one candidate for Speaker and one for Deputy Speaker, that becomes the party position. If CEC says all candidates proceed to the caucus for election by lining up, that also becomes the position,” he noted.
The NRM Parliamentary Caucus is expected to convene at State House Entebbe on Sunday afternoon, where party members will settle on official flag bearers for the two influential parliamentary offices.
“By tomorrow evening, the NRM flag bearers for Speaker and Deputy Speaker will be known,” Dr. Odoi stated.
He also expressed confidence that the ruling party would retain both positions when Parliament elects its new leadership on Monday, citing the NRM’s overwhelming numerical strength in the House.
Dr Tanga Odoi assured that NRM are confident to win because the numbers do not lie since NRM has 372 Members of Parliament and urged them to vote as one bloc and in one file so that the Speakership remains within party.
