Politics
NAM ministers reaffirm solidarity with Palestine as Uganda concludes midterm meeting
“We must know that our countries are bigger than all of us and that they can accommodate all of us, and that is what Raila Odinga demonstrated to the people of Kenya”.
Government Chief Whip, Hamson Obua speaking to journalists at Hotel la Confidentiel in Arua city. (Credit: Eddie Ssejjoba)
By: Eddie Ssejjoba, Journalists @New Vision
Government Chief Whip Hamson Obua has described deceased Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga as a 'statesman and an encyclopedia of the country’s politics, and a Pan Africanist for the time he lived'.
Obua, who is the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party's national vice-chairperson for northern Uganda region, says the former prime minister of Kenya, Odinga, leaves a lot of lessons for the opposition in Uganda.
“I am saying this because there is a lot for us to learn from him, especially Ugandan Opposition”.
“We must know that our countries are bigger than all of us and that they can accommodate all of us, and that is what Raila Odinga demonstrated to the people of Kenya”.
He says politicians must learn from Raila Odinga that when one contests against another, it is not a matter of war.
“That's when I contest against you, we are not enemies, we all have a common agenda. I can still join you and we work together for thecommon good of the people,” he says, adding that this will be a big lesson Odinga lives behind for opposition politicians in other countries, including those within and outside East Africa.
Government Chief Whip, Hamson Obua, right, with Arua City NRM flag bearer, Jackson Atima, at Hotel la Confidential. (Credit: Eddie Ssejjoba)
Obua was on October 15, 2025, speaking to journalists at Hotel La Confidentiel in Arua City, during a briefing about the NRM’s success stories in West Nile. He was flanked by party secretary general Richard Todwong and the Arua City NRM Member of Parliament seat flag-bearer Jackson Atima.
One of Kenya’s most influential and enduring political figures, Odinga, also known as Baba in Kenya, will be remembered for having made five unsuccessful presidential campaigns between 1997 and 2022.
Odinga also surprised many when he agreed to join his rival, President William Ruto, which led to opposition leaders being appointed to the cabinet. Oding’s ODM party also joined the broad-based government.