Speaker Among sails through unopposed as Bukedea Woman MP

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Speaker of Parliament Anita Annet Among, who is also the Bukedea Woman Member of Parliament, on Thursday, October 23, 2025, sailed through unopposed after her main opponent, National Unity Platform (NUP) candidate Florence Asio, failed to turn up at the Electoral Commission offices for nomination.

In an interview with the New Vision after the nomination exercise came to an end on Thursday (October 32), Speaker Among said she would now focus her energies on nationally campaigning for President Yoweri Museveni to clinch victory in the 2026 presidential race.

“I have just received reports from my district that I am unopposed. I give gratitude to God for this and my people in Bukedea for trusting me to serve them. I will now dedicate my energies to the national campaigns for our party chairman, President Museveni,” Among said.

Among alongside her deputy, Thomas Tayebwa, are both unopposed for the 2026 general elections. She had predicted shortly after her nominations on Wednesday in an interview with the media.

“I am grateful I was duly nominated for woman MP Bukedea district. I want to thank the people of Bukedea for entrusting me with the seat of Woman MP in the previous Parliament, which is ending in May next year. I also want to thank the EC because the process went on smoothly, and I am duly nominated as the flagbearer and candidate for NRM Bukedea Woman MP. I have opened my campaigns today (Wednesday). I am now going to campaign for the President. Inshallah I am going to be unopposed and I am going to join the President’s campaign. Even if I am not unopposed, I will come back on the day of elections and I will be voted by 98%,” Among said.

Among noted that in the coming elections, the people of Uganda, “expect the NRM to protect the gains that have been created. The gains we want to protect is the peace that we have brought to Uganda. Especially the larger Teso and parts of the North and Karamoja. We used not to sleep in houses. We now have peace, and we must make sure we protect it.”

On what makes her tick, Among said, “I have been having associations/women groups from each village. I am going to continue with that because I want people to have wealth. Have their own money. Whereas Government is doing everything to develop the country, we also need the small income that comes from our pockets. I try my best to complement what the government is doing. As of now, Government is giving out money on Parish Development Model (PDM).”

She said even though there was PDM, there are groups that are not being catered for. “It is those groups that I am looking out for to ensure that I empower them so that they are able to get some money in their pockets,” Among said.

She also said she wanted to make sure that, using the government programs, there are schools in all the parishes and sub-counties in Bukedea.

Among said she was sure of 99% win in the January 15, 2026, elections. “You are in this place here. This is a hospital that is giving free services to the people of Bukedea. That over there is a nursing school, that offers half bursary to students that are studying here.  We have two powerful secondary schools that are giving free education for the girl child. There is a state of art stadium across where we held our rally,” Among said.

She noted that all that people want in an area is development. “People want leaders who are able to bring development back home. I would have chosen to build that school in Kampala where I know there is ready market and there is a lot of money. But, because I feel everyone of us tries to develop their own area, I chose to bring them here,” she said.

She urged her people to vote for President Yoweri Museveni and all the NRM flagbearers. “We are only appreciating what the NRM has done for us. Originally, I used to be in opposition, but I realised I was wasted, but I can now be able to add value to the party that I am subscribing to,” she said.

On Wednesday (October 22), Speaker Among arrived at the Electoral Commission(EC) offices in Bukedea where she presented her credentials for nomination.

After scrutinising the documents, Bukedea district returning officer, Joel Mugyenyi, declared that Among had fully met all the requirements and subsequently, accepted her nomination.

Among those who accompanied her for nomination included the former Vice President and Speaker, Edward Ssekandi, sports state minister Peter Ogwang and other NRM flag-bearer in the district, Isiagi Opolot (Kachumbala County) and Beecham Okwere (Bukedea County), who were also nominated to contest for their respective seats.

Among then led thousands of her supporters for a massive maiden rally at Bukedea Comprehensive Stadium.

On October 21, 2025, NUP presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi paraded Asio as Among’s competitor, accusing the EC and courts of being used to “sideline” three other women who had expressed interest in contesting against Among.

“None of those candidates were ever invited for any tribunal hearing until they were informed that the Parish Tribunal had decided to remove them from the register,” Kyagulanyi said.

On October 21, 2025, High Court in Kampala dismissed two applications filed by Mercy Marion Alupo of NUP and Norma Susan Otai of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), who sought to block the Electoral Commission (EC) from deleting their names from the national voters’ register.

Justice Simon Peter Kinobe of the Civil Division ruled that the applicants had failed to establish sufficient grounds for the temporary injunctions they sought.

He instead directed both parties to focus on the main petition in which Alupo and Otai are seeking reinstatement on the register. The EC, the sole respondent in the case, was granted two days to file an affidavit in reply, after which the applicants will file their rejoinder on the same day.

The ruling is expected five days after all submissions are filed. The EC was represented by Eric Sabiiti, the commission’s head of litigation, while the applicants were represented by lawyer Jonathan Erotu.

On October 8, 2025, Alupo and Otai petitioned the High court to quash the EC’s decision upholding their deletion from the Bukedea Constituency voters’ register. They also sought a permanent injunction restraining the EC from conducting any election activities for the Bukedea District Woman MP seat until their case is determined.

Alupo told court that she is ordinarily a resident in Kotolut parish, Kidongole subcounty, Bukedea County, and that her name had previously appeared on the national voters’ register.

Similarly, Otai said she is a resident of Kopeta parish, Kotir sub-county, Bukedea district, and was also a registered voter there. The two allege that on October 1, they were summoned late at night by the EC and instructed to appear the following morning without being informed of the purpose of the meeting or provided with copies of any complaints.

They claim the EC, acting on recommendations from parish tribunals in Kotolut and Kopeta, deleted their names on the basis that they were not residents of Bukedea, an allegation they insist is false.