Anita Annet Among must be having some of the longest nights of her life, as a lot has unfolded in a very short period. From expecting to defend her position as Speaker of Parliament, the third-highest office in Uganda’s governance structure, she now finds herself fighting to hold on.
Among has already announced that she will not stand for the opposition. This comes amid an ongoing high-level probe into her wealth, as security operatives are searching her residences. The operation began at her Nakasero home on Saturday before moving to her Kigo residence. Reports indicate that they will also search another property in Ntinda before heading to her countryside home in Bukedea.
Amid all this, questions have resurfaced about her background and how she rose to become one of Uganda’s most powerful political figures.
Early life and humble beginnings
Anita Among was born on 23 November 1973 in Bukedea District in eastern Uganda. She grew up in a large family of over 40 siblings, and she was among the youngest.
She started school in 1979 at Pallisa Girls Primary School. After finishing Primary Seven, her father tried to marry her off, but she was instead given a bursary at Mbale High School, as she was a bright student.
She has often described her upbringing as challenging, shaped by hardship. She has consistently said that poverty played a key role in shaping her determination to succeed, once noting in an interview that she refused to be defined by adversity.
During her early years after finishing Senior Six in 1996, she reportedly took up casual work, including working as a tea girl at Centenary Bank’s Mbale branch.
Education and professional career
Among later pursued higher education, graduating from Makerere University in 2005 with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. She went on to obtain a Master of Business Administration and later studied law at Kampala International University.
Before fully entering politics, she worked at Centenary Bank and also served as a lecturer at Makerere University Business School (MUBS) and Kampala International University. She left Centenary Bank in 2006 while serving at the level of Bank Manager.
Entry into politics and early struggles
Anita Among’s political career began in the opposition. She was an active member of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), where she served as deputy treasurer.
She contested for the Bukedea District Woman MP seat in 2006 and 2011 on the FDC ticket but lost both elections.
In 2016, she shifted political strategy and ran as an independent candidate for the same seat. This time, she won and entered Parliament for the first time.
Even after her victory, she was still assigned roles within opposition parliamentary structures, including deputy chairperson of the Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (COSASE), though her political alignment soon became a subject of controversy within the opposition. She was reported to be a mole.
Shift to NRM and rapid rise
By 2020, Anita Among formally joined the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM). Ahead of the 2021 general elections, she sailed through party primaries unopposed and secured her parliamentary seat again under the NRM banner.
Her rise within the party and Parliament was swift. In a short time, she climbed to one of the highest offices in the country, Deputy Speaker of Parliament. A year later, on 25 March 2022, Among was elected Speaker, succeeding Jacob Oulanyah, who had died in Seattle, Washington.
As they say, the rest is history — a story that traces both the rise and fall of Anita Among.
