Just eleven months after the controversial by-election that saw the Electoral Commission declare Herbert Edmund Ariko the Soroti City East MP, he has announced his intention to quit the constituency and represent Gweri County in Soroti district. 

Ariko declared his interest on December 29, 2023, at a local event he organised in Gweri County that is currently being represented by Forum for Democratic Change (FDC)’s Tom Julius Ekudo. 

“I’m a born of this place and it’s here that you will bury me, so as your son, you are in my heart and time has come for me to be with you,” Ariko said a midst cheers from the people he had gathered for a cultural gala that saw his sub-county of Awaliwal emerge winners after beating Gweri and Aukot to take sh2.5m and a bull. 

Ariko stated that in his leadership spanning eight years as MP, he has observed that Soroti city people are not appreciative of his leadership. 

NRM secretary general together with Ssenide celebrating Arikos victory when he was declared a winner in the Soroti by election

NRM secretary general together with Ssenide celebrating Arikos victory when he was declared a winner in the Soroti by election

“I have tried my level best to serve them, but they are not appreciative of my work and so why should I leave my people of Gweri suffering? What I do is not what they seem to want, and I have noticed that they value parties more than service delivery,” Ariko said. 

In the 2021 general election, Moses Okia Attan of FDC defeated Ariko by 439 votes. Ariko had represented Soroti town as its municipality MP before its elevation in 2020 to city status in which two divisions were created leading, Ariko to contest in Soroti City East. 

Ariko petitioned the court accusing the Electoral Commission of altering boundaries. High Court Judge Anne Mugenyi in 2022, ruled in favour of Ariko stating that the election of Attan was conducted in non-existent wards of Aloet and Opiai. 

Those were the wards that were put under Soroti City West, paving for his loss since he claimed those were his strongholds. 

In the controversial by-election held on July 28, 2022, the Electoral Commission announced Ariko as the winner with 9,407 votes against Attan’s 8,771. 

Efforts by Attan to secure the seat he pioneered as its legislator for one and half months failed on appeal when the court ruled against him. 

However, since then, Ariko has not enjoyed his seat as people in the city heckle him and talk ill of him both on local radios and at public functions. 

Though he continues to serve Soroti city, Ariko’s heart now lies in Gweri where he has revealed that he will cross over to contest come 2026. 

He has presided over fundraisings in Gweri and recently organised a cultural gala that brought together three sub-counties that makeup Gweri County. 

“It’s time for me to return home because home is home. I request you to access me and decide, and I can assure you that you will not regret having me as your leader,” Ariko told the people of Gweri. 

Attan listening to a member of his legal team as his witnesses listen before he lost that case to Ariko

“Gweri is a small place with 66 villages and three sub-counties that I cannot fail to serve. Gweri people are not asking for much but only things that will help their livelihoods,” Ariko said. 

But the incumbent Gweri County MP Ekudo described Ariko as a greedy leader that the Gweri people should not welcome. 

“What has gone wrong with the seat he fought so hard to secure? What is that thing he wants to bring to Gweri that Soroti City East does not want? That is greed and I can assure him that I will defeat him squarely,” Ekudo said. 

Ekudo who served Gweri before its elevation to a county as the LC3 chairperson for two terms, advised Ariko to settle in Soroti City East other than crossing to Gweri to get another humiliation. 

“What is true with me is that I am a poor MP who entirely depends on my salary making me go slow in implementing my pledges and promises, but my people are patient with me because my term is still running,” Ekudo said. 

Ariko has made his plastic chairs, tents, and trucks available for the people of Gweri during funerals and social functions, and also sends condolences to families that lose their beloved ones.