Speaker Anita Among has firmly dismissed speculation that she intends to run for the presidency in 2031, describing the claims as baseless and reiterating her intention to retire from active politics at the end of the current political cycle.
Speaking candidly during a visit to the PLU offices where she went to purchase kits for Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba’s 52nd birthday run, Among said she had “overachieved” beyond her own expectations and has no ambition to seek higher office.
“I want to make this very clear… this talk that Anita wants to stand for presidency is rubbish,” she said. “Even where I am now, I have overachieved. I did not expect to be there, and I am saying, 2031, I am retiring from active politics.”
Among, who also serves as Second National Vice Chairperson (Female) of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM), pledged to support any candidate endorsed by Yoweri Museveni when the time comes.
“If my brother is standing, or anybody that the President shows me to support, that is the person I will back,” she stated.
In a strikingly personal reflection, Among said she does not believe she possesses the temperament or skill set required for the presidency, pointing to the demands of leadership in Uganda.
“I don’t go for what I cannot handle. Even being a Member of Parliament is too much—how then the presidency?” she said. “I don’t even know how to cock a gun. This country still needs people like that—I don’t have that patience to be a president.”
She emphasized that she has no desire or aspiration for the top job, adding that she is content with having served as Speaker of Parliament.
“I don’t even have the urge, I don’t even have the wish. But I am grateful that, in one way or another, God enabled me to serve as Speaker,” she said.
Her remarks are likely to quell ongoing political speculation about her future ambitions, particularly as discussions around succession and the 2031 general elections begin to take shape within Uganda’s political landscape.
