Newly Elected Serere MP Omoding Signs MOU To Work With NRM Days After Swearing In
The newly elected Serere County Member of Parliament, Emmanuel Omoding has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the ruling National Resistance Movement(NRM) party days after being sworn in.
According to the MoU, signed on Thursday at the ruling party headquarters at Kyadondo, Omoding has not crossed to NRM but will with the ruling party to serve the interests of his people. Secretary General Richard Todwong.
“We congratulate you upon winning the election though we didn’t support you. In principle, we supported our flag bearer but the people of Serere decided otherwise and as the NRM party, we welcome you,” NRM Secretary General Richard Todwon said as he welcomed Omoding.
“We are happy to receive you because you have declared openly that you belong to NRM and you would want to work with NRM. You were elected as an independent Member of Parliament and this document(MOU) will enable us to relate with you officially. It doesn’t mean you have crossed to NRM but only to help us work with you as an independent MP,” he added.
He also explained the NRM choice for Philip Oucor as the party flag bearer in the just concluded election, saying they could not go against the party’s constitution.
“Though we didn’t support you as a party, the people decided that you should represent the constituency. In principle, we supported our flag bearer which is something we couldn’t go against. Now that you have come, we are happy to receive you.”
In response, Omoding said he was happy to work with NRM party as an independent MP to make the voices of the people of Serere county get heard.
“I am an independent candidate but NRM leaning just like my father was. I have decided to sign a cooperation pack with the NRM party because I want the voices of the people of Serere to be heard and their dreams to be met,” Omoding said.
“My father was independent but NRM leaning and as they say, like father like son, it is what I am doing to work with the party.”
The Government Chief Whip, Hamson Obua, said it is within Omoding’s right to associate with the ruling party and applauded him for the decision.
“We believe the request by Omoding to work with the NRM is an addition to the NRM parliamentary caucus in parliament not as an MP belonging to NRM but in exercising his constitutional right of associating with the ruling party,” Obua said.
Omoding is the son of the late Patrick Okabe who died in an accident in December and defeated NRM’s Philip Oucor, Alliance for National Transformation (ANT)’s Alice Alaso and two other candidates in the Serere by-election last week.
