Polls: Issues at the hearts of Madi Okollo, Obongi voters

VOTERS’ NEEDS

By Nelson Kiva, Robert Adiga and Edward Anyoli

Endowed with vast land, natural trees, wetlands and River Nile, among others, Madi Okollo is regarded as the drainage point for most rivers in West Nile.

The districts, with a population of approximately 210,000 people, utilise over 78% of the arable land for farming, growing staple food crops such as cassava, maize, sorghum, beans, groundnuts and sim-sim (sesame), as well as cotton, their cash crop.

Despite clearly cut-out challenges such as the entire district of Obongi lacking electricity connectivity, authorities in both districts have outlined ambitious transformative programmes in areas of health, education and agriculture, among others.

“In the whole country, I think it is only us without electricity, and I think the problem is really the Government. It has affected modern systems in the district. We normally use solar, and when it rains heavily, we are badly affected,” Hajji Habibu Khemis Buga, the Obogi district chairperson, said.

Key issues  

Despite government’s affirmative efforts to address electricity disparities in West Nile, the challenge persists.

On August 3, last year, President Yoweri Museveni commissioned the 289km Kole–Gulu–Nebbi–Arua 132 kilovolt transmission line and associated 80MVA 132/33kV substations at Kole, Gulu, Nebbi and Arua, eventually connecting West Nile to the national electricity grid.

This came after government initiatives such as Nyagak III Hydropower Plant, Nyagak 1 and Karuma Hydropower Dam, which have overturned the history of power outages and limited connectivity when it comes to rural electrification within the greater West Nile sub-region.

‘‘Power outages in West Nile should be history. The focus now is attracting investors for industrial parks to utilise the sub-region’s 90MW capacity, far exceeding the 10MW local demand, to drive job creation and development,” said energy minister Ruth Nankabirwa while presiding over the commissioning of Nyagak III, recently.

After the independence campaign pause, the NRM party candidate, Museveni, resumed his re-election bid in West Nile by addressing rallies in Nebbi and Zombo on Saturday.

On Monday, he will campaign in the districts of Madi Okollo and Obongi before proceeding to other districts within the region.

He will be the first of the eight presidential candidates to campaign in the districts. However, voters in Obongi said power connection to their area is a key missing link that has frustrated both business and investment.

As a result, voters want leaders to address the power question in Obongi district. They have also called upon leaders to rehabilitate the 80km road from Obongi to Moyo and upgrade the Obongi Health Centre IV to a hospital status.

The other issue that voters want is the upgrade of Itula Health Centre III to IV. Obongi has over 500km of roads, with those under the district totalling about 172km. According to Buga, district roads are a bit okay compared to those under the central government, which need immediate action.

Progress recorded  

However, according to Buga, the district has registered key progress in government programmes including the Parish Development Model (PDM), claiming that the district ranks at 99.7% in terms of performance.

“We have 28 parishes and all of them have benefited from the programme. The Emyooga has also done very well,” he said.

“In the education sector, we have constructed classrooms and staff houses. The schools which have benefited include Chinyi and Orinyi primary schools,” Buga added.

“In the health sector, we have constructed an outpatient department and general ward at Iboa Health Centre II and Pelemelim Health Centre II.” Obongi’s total district budget is about sh16b (2025/2026), which was reduced from sh17b in the last financial year due to budget cuts.

According to Buga, the district is able to contribute only sh600m in local revenue, while over 90% of the district budget is contributed by the central government.

How survey was done 

The poll was conducted by Vision Group’s research team between March and May, 2025, covering a sample size of 6,006 Ugandans countrywide. They were each asked the question: “In your opinion, which issues are affecting this community?”

To ensure national representation, the research team sampled eligible Ugandan voters from across 58 districts. Only citizens possessing a valid national identification card and aged 18 years and above were sampled.

The survey covered all 17 sub-regions of Uganda. The respondents were randomly sampled from both rural and urban areas.

Development needs  

The development priorities for both Obongi and Madi Okollo that voters pointed out range from improving health services, education, agriculture and roads.

In both districts, the local authorities say the development agenda is built on the peace currently prevailing in the broader West Nile region and across the country, aiming for all-round transformation in areas such as roads, infrastructure, healthcare, agriculture and electricity connectivity.

According to eminent persons in West Nile, the journey to transform the sub-region began with initiatives to secure sustainable peace, which was a nightmare in the early days of the NRM government, with several rebel groups challenging the new establishment.

The military successes against the rebel groups were consolidated through the 2002 West Nile Peace Accord between the Government and the amalgamated rebel movements, such as the Uganda National Rescue Front II, West Nile Bank Front and Uganda National Rescue Front.

This, coupled with the subsequent defeat of the Lord’s Resistance Army, stabilised the sub-region, paving way for steady progress. Ismail Drabe, the district chairperson of Madi Okollo, said since the district’s operationalisation six years ago, they have achieved a modern and permanent district headquarters and a number of departmental offices.

Drabe said the other construction projects they have undertaken include markets at Ribo sub-county and Inde town council.

“We have a municipal stadium being constructed at Inde town council. We have opened four road networks, including a 26km road from Pawol sub-county to Okollo. We constructed it in 2022/2023,” he said.

Drabe added: “The other road is running from Anyiribu sub-county to Offaka sub-county and was constructed this financial year. We also constructed a number of new classrooms at Jojoyi Primary School in Okollo town council. The other school constructed is at Eteleva in Uleppi sub-county.”

“Under health, we have been able to establish several structures at Rhino Camp Health Centre IV, including a maternity ward, general ward, theatre, medicine store and laundry house. Maternity wards have also been constructed at Olujobi Health Centre III and Ocea Health Centre III,” he said.

Under production, Drabe said they have supported 13,000 farmers under PDM.

Madi Okollo’s demands  

The district’s demands to the Government include increasing the district budget from sh27b to sh50b annually because they have a number of unfunded priorities, such as road links that they would wish to construct.

The district budget, according to Drabe, increased from sh24b in the 2025/2026 budget.

“We have about eight health centre IIs that need to be upgraded to health centre IIIs. This will require the construction of more structures, such as out-patient departments, which require a lot of money. The sh50b annually would even enable us to recruit staff in health centres and schools, among others,” Drabe said.

He added that the district does not have a government hospital and suggested that government upgrades Rhino Camp Health Centre IV into a hospital for Upper Madi Okollo.

People’s manifesto  

The challenges enlisted by the common voters in both districts did not differ much from those being highlighted across the entire sub-region.

They cut across a wide range of issues, including roads, healthcare, water and sanitation, poverty, unemployment, education, agricultural services, land management and high crime rate.

For instance, the challenges listed in the health sector included walking long distances to health facilities, lack of medicine at health centres, unprofessional conduct among healthcare staff, shortage of personnel, poor medical infrastructure and overcrowding.

These same issues are also reflected in the New Vision Citizens Manifesto conducted between March and May, where they highlighted key bottlenecks undermining service delivery in the spheres of healthcare, roads infrastructure, water and sanitation, poverty, unemployment, power connectivity, education, agricultural services, land management, crimes and leadership, among others.

“I expect the President to talk about our poor road infrastructure. Roads are key for us businesspeople and farmers who transport produce to markets. I wish he could visit more often so he can see how bad the roads really are,” Yasin Tabu, a voter from Obongi district said.

David Agbara, the NRM chairperson for Madi Okollo, cited government achievements, starting with security, socio-economic programmes and skilling, which have transformed the lives of the citizens.

Agbara, however, said ahead of the president’s campaign tour, they have lined up a number of issues that they need to raise with him.

“Most of the roads are dilapidated, as well as classrooms. So, we want the Government to prioritise construction of our roads as tourism is expected to boom with the coming of the white Rhinos,” he said.

Expert views  

Former Uganda Medical Association president and renowned public health specialist and surgeon Dr Samuel Oledo noted that West Nile is strategically located on the borders of two countries — DR Congo and South Sudan — which presents it with a unique opportunity to access markets in both countries.

“Now, the concept of the President on economic transformation comes into play, especially value addition, which enables us to export finished or semi-finished goods and services, rather than raw materials,” Oledo said.

He, however, noted that sharing borders with those countries comes with challenges, given that they are belts of insecurity and diseases such as Ebola for DR Congo.

“You cannot expect to sell Ugandan products to Sudan and Congo if you are navigating through rainforests. So, When the President talked about constructing roads in Congo, people thought Mzee wanted to deploy the UPDF (Uganda People’s Defence Forces) there. But peace is important - you cannot sell goods in a place where there’s insecurity,” Oledo added.

He further said on top of West Nile producing coffee, cotton and tobacco, they also produce maize and beans, which can easily be consumed in South Sudan, which is experiencing famine.

Aron Mugaiga, the general secretary of Uganda Professional Science Teachers Union, said one of the ways to improve on the quality and equity of education in Madi Okollo, Obongi and other districts in West Nile, is through ensuring constant supply of teaching equipment, especially for science subjects.

“Just as they are readily available in the city schools, the Government should provide the same in these districts. Then, teachers tend to run away from hard-to-reach areas. It is imperative for the Government to give incentives to make working in hard-to-reach areas more attractive than city postings,” he said.

What voters say 

Jane Rose Abiko, a trader in Madi Okollo

We want improved service delivery, youth sponsorships and cabinet representation. We also want a district hospital to serve our rural communities.

Zakeo Adebasiku, Obongi district

We have presented several issues to the Government, but none have been implemented. For instance, Inde Technical School remains in ruins despite the President’s earlier pledge to rehabilitate it.

The buildings are dilapidated, and students risk their lives studying there. We appeal to the President to prioritise these concerns during this campaign. We hope to see some improvements in service delivery in the district.

Innocent Adroni, student leader in Obongi

The Government should address education challenges in Obongi. We have very few government teachers, and our school isn’t connected to the national electricity grid. Sometimes, we read using lamps because there’s no power. How can students perform well under such conditions?

Hope Lematia, charcoal vendor in Madi Okollo

The money government has put under PDM is not enough, especially for me who invested in charcoal business. The poor roads have also made transportation of charcoal difficult. Government should consider increasing funds for road maintenance.

Alfred Adomati, senior citizen in Madi Okollo

I am concerned about the poor education performance in the district. We also have few secondary schools. Our children move long distances to access secondary education, and with the poor roads and lack of bridges, they sometimes fail to go to school during the rainy season. So, we need more seed secondary schools.

Hellen Adiru, senior citizen in Obongi

As farmers, there is need to build our capacity and be given additional capital for apiary business.

Ramandan Taban, farmer in Madi Okollo

The bridge from Awa village in Okollo sub-county needs to be repaired. We are currently cut off from the rest of the country due to the broken bridge.

Hilder Eyotaru, youth leader in Madi Okollo

We need the Government to establish irrigation facilities so we can grow crops throughout the year and break the cycle of poverty. More markets also need to be constructed so that we can easily sell our farm products.