SFC at AAA’s Home as Speakership Battle Hits Boiling Point
Uganda politics just entered the kind of week where people sleep with their phones on and their doors locked.
Around 3 a.m., the Special Forces Command reportedly moved on AAA’s home. The gates were manned. Everyone entering or leaving had their details taken.
The reason given on the ground is simple: she’s accused of mobilising quietly after being told to step out of the Speakership race.
Whether that’s true or not, the message was clear. The gloves are off.
This Isn’t Just About One Seat
The Speakership of Parliament has always been political. But this time it feels different.
The next two weeks will be the hardest for ministers, commissioners, and anyone holding a top job in Parliament. Promises are being made and broken daily. Phone calls are going unanswered. Meetings are happening in garages and guest houses, not offices.
Why? Because whoever controls the Speakership controls the money, the committees, and the tone of the next five years.
And when that much is on the line, people stop pretending to be friends.
NRM and PLU in the Same Room
While the security moves were happening in Kampala, another picture was being painted in Mukono.
NRM and PLU leaders turned up together for Hon. Oboth Oboth’s thanksgiving for his West Budama South victory.
On the ground you had PLU Secretary General David Kabanda standing next to MPs Peter Ogwang, Michael Mawanda, Haruna Kasolo, and others. Handshakes, speeches, photo ops.
On paper, it looked like unity.
On the ground, it looked like damage control.
This came days after PLU publicly withdrew support for Speaker Anita Among and Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa and after then announced their endorsement. The optics matter. If PLU and NRM leaders can still share a podium, it tells MPs-elect that the door to reconciliation isn’t closed. But it also tells them that nothing is guaranteed.
The Nameere Factor
Justine Nameere’s name keeps coming up.
The Masaka Woman MP and former presidential advisor was reportedly abducted violently last evening. Sources say it’s connected to her open support for Among and her public clash with PLU Secretary General Kabanda.
Nothing has been confirmed by police at the time of writing. But in this environment, confirmation doesn’t matter as much as perception.
People already believe the fight has moved from press statements to physical intimidation. And once that belief takes hold, the whole race changes. MPs start calculating not just who will win, but who is safe to be seen with.
Why Lukwago Called It the Ugliest Battle Since Independence
Former Kampala Mayor Erias Lukwago didn’t mince words. He said this is poised to be the ugliest battle for Parliament Speakership since independence.
He’s not wrong.
Since 1962, Speakership contests have been messy. But they were mostly contained within Parliament and the NRM caucus. What’s different now is the number of players with separate power centers.
You have the NRM CEC with its official position.
You have PLU acting like a parallel structure under Gen Muhoozi.
You have individual MPs with money, militias, and media access.
You have the security services watching, registering, and in some cases, acting.
When all these centers pull in different directions, the process breaks down. And that’s where we are.
What the 3 a.m. Visit Really Signals
The SFC move on AAA’s home wasn’t just about her.
It was a signal to everyone else: we know what you’re doing. We’re watching. And we can act at any time.
Registration of visitors, midnight visits, public accusations. These are tools used to create fear and force compliance.
They work. MPs who were planning to defy the party line are now rethinking. Donors who were funding campaigns are going quiet.
That’s how power works in Uganda. Not always through votes, but through fear of consequences.
What Happens If This Escalates
If the abduction claims around Nameere are proven, and if more leaders face security pressure, two things happen.
First, the race becomes illegitimate in the eyes of the public. People stop believing the outcome reflects their will.
Second, the NRM risks a split it can’t control. PLU already operates outside the normal party structures. If it feels attacked, it could formalize that split faster than anyone expects.
That’s the nightmare scenario for State House. A divided ruling camp going into 2026.
The Path Out
There’s only one way to cool this down.
President Museveni has to pick a candidate and make it stick. Not through whispers, but through a clear, public directive.
PLU has to fall in line or be officially separated from the NRM. You can’t have a movement that claims to be under the NRM but runs its own Parliamentary strategy.
And the security services have to step back from partisan politics. Once the gun becomes part of the campaign, democracy is over.
What to Watch This Week
Forget the speeches. Watch three things.
One: Who gets nominated for Speaker and Deputy Speaker by the NRM caucus.
Two: Whether PLU publicly backs that nomination or goes rogue again.
Three: Whether more MPs report intimidation or disappearances.
If all three trend toward order, the crisis passes.
If not, buckle up. The next two weeks will be chaotic.
Last Word
This is not normal politics.
When security surrounds homes at 3 a.m., when MPs are allegedly abducted, when former mayors call it the ugliest fight since independence, you know the system is under strain.
The Speakership race is the symptom. The real disease is a ruling party that no longer agrees on who leads it after Museveni.
Watch Parliament this week. The vote won’t just decide who sits in the Speaker’s chair. It will decide whether the NRM can still manage itself.
