Bugisu cultural leader Mudoma urges MP-elect to focus on service delivery
“We expect MPs to be united and act as a chain linking government and grassroots communities in addressing issues like poverty and unemployment rather than creating wrangles among themselves,” Mudoma said.
Mudoma, who made the call while meeting newly elected MPs from Bugisu at the cultural institution offices at Malukhu in Mbale city late January 2026, further urged the elected leaders to serve their respective communities with integrity and transparency (Credit: Joseph Wanzusi)
Bamasaaba cultural leader (Umukuuka) Jude Mike Mudoma has urged Member of Parliament (MP)-elects in Bugisu region to prioritise the needs of the people they represent by focusing on service delivery instead of empty words.
Mudoma, who made the call while meeting newly elected MPs from Bugisu at the cultural institution offices at Malukhu in Mbale city late January 2026, further urged the elected leaders to serve their respective communities with integrity and transparency.
“We expect MPs to be united and act as a chain linking government and grassroots communities in addressing issues like poverty and unemployment rather than creating wrangles among themselves,” Mudoma said.
The Umukuuka also urged them to stop mocking those who lost to them and said their efforts should be on exploring the possibilities of improving the living standards in Bugisu.
Earlier, presenting a paper titled: The Linkage Between Cultural, Political and Spiritual Leadership in Spurring Socio-economic Development in Bugisu, Bamasaaba cultural institution premier Paul Mwambu said Bugisu is endowed with resources that should be harnessed through co-ordinated cultural, political and economic leadership that can drive inclusive and socio-economic transformation.
Mwambu cited Bugisu Arabica coffee variety, which remains Bugisu’s most distinctive global commodity, with strong potential for premium market positioning, adding that farmers should be protected from market exploitation by enhancing producer incomes across the entire value chain.
Bugisu cultural leader Jude Mike Mudoma (in regalia) with a section of newly elected Members of Parliament from Bugisu sub-region. (Credit: Joseph Wanzusi)
He said Bugisu Co-operative Union (BCU), as the only surviving co-operative union in the region, remains a strategic institutional asset, while Masaba Co-operative Union has largely collapsed, but it still retains physical assets and organisational structures that can be revived.
“As traditional crops such as cotton lose viability, Bugisu sub-region must strategically rethink and diversify into new and emerging high-value commodities, including fruits and vegetables that include chilli, bananas, jack fruit and other climate-resilient crops for export.
On cultural heritage, Mwambu said Bugisu’s rich intangible heritage constitutes a powerful yet underutilised development resource that includes imbalu (circumcision), a cultural practice recognised by UNESCO, distinctive Bagisu cuisine, food, oral traditions such as music and rites of passage.
Mwambu also urged cultural, political and spiritual spheres to respect each other’s mandate, share information, avoid public antagonism that weakens collective bargaining power and speak with one strategic voice on matters of regional development.
The prime minister called for the establishment of a public university in Bugisu sub-region, saying it is one of last remaining gaps among major regions since independence.