Eron Owori

Witchcraft in Uganda Parliament After All: Speaker Oboth-Oboth Has Cast a Spell of Good Manners So it’s true after all: one individual can make a difference. Lawyer Jacob Oboth-Oboth is Speaker of Uganda’s 12th Parliament. A low-key man by temperament, he gave little hint of how he would “rule”, and his start was worrying. At a thanksgiving service on June 8, he spoke of rumours of witchcraft and supernatural manipulation in Parliament, declaring that his faith made him immune to dark forces. Here, it seemed, was yet another juju-obsessed politician. At the same service he paraded his wives, raising fears of polygamous drama to come (although editors were probably silently hoping such drama would bring good ratings🤣). Perhaps we had simply been conditioned by the theatrics of his erratic, volatile and extravagant predecessor, the one and only Anita Annet Among, who was felled spectacularly by the army chief, Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, and his Patriotic League of Uganda brigade. Oboth-Oboth has bucked the trend. An unusual calm has settled over Parliament. Legislators are more serious and thoughtful, and the tantrums are gone. The Speaker talks softly, is remarkably tolerant of the Opposition (whom Among hounded and humiliated at every turn), and has said the right things about freedom. Perhaps he simply hasn’t been tested yet. President Yoweri Museveni has not yet tabled an amendment pushing the 2031 election back to 2033, or asked for a $750 million bailout for a political crony to go through without debate. When that day comes, the mask may slip and the fangs come out. For now, though, he has shown how much difference civility, democratic accommodation, and simply not being foul-mouthed and arrogant can make. Now, if he can only get rid of that colonial Speaker’s wig.