Activist Stella Nyanzi has triggered renewed discussion on women’s political leadership following remarks on the ongoing political and legal scrutiny facing former Speaker Anita Annet Among, who recently stepped back from the speakership race amid corruption investigations.
Nyanzi questioned how Uganda’s women’s movement is interpreting Among’s political decline, describing her as one of the most visible women to rise to the highest levels of state power in recent years.
She raised difficult questions about whether Among should be embraced as part of the women’s movement or distanced from it in light of the allegations and public criticism surrounding her leadership.
“I wonder how the women’s movement in Uganda is processing the disgraceful fall of AAA, one of the most highly empowered women in our country,” she said, adding that her position forces reflection on the broader role of women in political office.
Nyanzi asked whether Among’s leadership represented the interests of Ugandan women or whether her time in office exposed deeper contradictions in the push for female representation in politics.
She questioned whether women’s rights advocates supported and guided female leaders once they attained power, or whether they stepped back and only reacted when controversies emerged.
“Did she represent us? Did we counsel her when she stepped on Ugandans’ necks and defended oppressors?” she said, pointing to accusations that have previously surrounded parliamentary leadership.
Among rose through Uganda’s political ranks to become Speaker of Parliament, a position that made her one of the most powerful women in the country and a symbol of progress in women’s participation in governance.
However, her tenure has also been overshadowed by allegations of corruption and abuse of office, which have dominated recent political debate and contributed to her withdrawal from the speakership contest.
Nyanzi said she had previously supported calls for accountability, including participation in the #AnitaMustResign campaign that gained traction among activists and young protesters demanding reforms in leadership.
She argued that earlier resignation could have changed the trajectory of events, suggesting that resistance to public pressure intensified the political consequences now unfolding.
“Perhaps if AAA had resigned when we told her, she would not be falling as hard as she is falling today,” she said.
Her remarks have reignited broader debate on whether women leaders in high office are held to different expectations and how feminist movements should respond when female politicians are implicated in governance controversies.