Odonga Otto faces stiff challenge as Wandera tries a comeback
The election year, 2011, is around the corner. Incumbents will struggle to retain their seats while many others will vie to replace them.
The election year, 2011, is around the corner. Incumbents will struggle to retain their seats while many others will vie to replace them.
The contests will cut across; from president, parliamentary constituencies to local government.
As the temperatures begin to rise, Saturday Vision puts a barometer on the political climate; analysing the aspirants and the issues that are likely to influence voter choices
ARUU COUNTY, PADER DISTRICT
Samuel Odonga Otto, who has served as the MP for two terms, will face stiff competition from several candidates including his uncle, John Richard Otema.
The vocal Forum for Democratic Change legislator won the seat in 2001 and 2006 partly because of his charisma and because the National Resistance Movement was unpopular in the area.
As a strong Government critic, Odonga easily won the seat. He made so much noise about the suffering caused by the Lord’s Resistance Army insurgency that the locals believed this helped turn the Government and international support towards them.
Voters are also happy with his contributions during parliamentary debates that they have always been willing to forgive him for achieving little on the ground.
However, as the tide changes, it is not clear how long this goodwill will last.
The NRM, which was unpopular in the entire Acholi sub-region because of the LRA war, has started gaining ground.
Most former occupants of internally displaced people’s camps have got iron sheets and resettlement packages to start a new life in their villages.
Consequently, anti-government sentiment is no longer as strong in the region and a number of politicians have gained the courage to stand on the NRM ticket.
One of them is Otto’s uncle, Otema, the proprietor of Pader Central High School and a lecturer at Gulu University. “I sponsor 17 orphans and girls for education. Those who are talented in sports are given free education,†Otema boasts.
 He outlines his priority as eradication of poverty as people resettle in their villages. “As leaders, we need to guide people on how they can make use of their land to make money and eradicate poverty.â€
 Otema hails the NRM government for initiating programmes like the Peace Recovery and Development Plan, Northern Uganda Social Action Fund and the National Agricultural Advisory Services, which are improving the wellbeing of the people in the rural areas.
“We need to soften our hearts as leaders and to reconcile and provide better social services to the people.â€
Another contender is Nock James Kidega, a renowned NRM cadre in Acholi. “I am looking at poverty eradication through forming groups, which will get revolving funds for income-generating activities.â€
 He has been supporting women, youth and farmers’ groups.
Kidega also says he wants to eradicate preventable diseases through sensitising the people and has pledged to introduce a mobile clinic to provide healthcare.
Kidega also plans to eradicate illiteracy by advocating construction of more vocational schools. From here, the youth can get skills in bicycle, phone and motorcycle repair.
He added that the Government should set up a scholarship scheme for students from the north, because of the suffering they have undergone.
 Another NRM aspirant is Seydou Adolatona. In 2006, Adolatona, who is a social worker with an NGO in Kitgum district, stepped down.
But he says his time to lead the people of Aruu has come. He says as a farmer, his priority is promoting agriculture and empowering the people to realise their potential.
 “Our people have the potential to farm, but they lack leaders who can guide them on how to use their land to develop,†he remarks.
 “I have a programme on Radio Pa Lwak, on which we and sensitise people on where they can get market for their produce and loans for income-generating activities,†he notes.
 He plans to lobby for power to be extended to the area so that small-scale processing plants can be established in the constituency to create jobs and income.
The fourth aspirant on the NRM ticket is Justine Odong, 35. He was guild president at the Law Development Centre and speaker Nkumba University Law Society. He has been offering legal advice to the people on land matters, defilement and theft on Radio Pa Lwak.
“People have printed T-shirts, while others have produced songs in my name to show their support for me,†he said.
 Odong says he wants to empower people by setting up markets and building health centres at parish level, as well as setting up small-scale processing of shearnut butter.
He also plans to revive tourist attractions such as Aruu Falls. He promises to lobby the Government and donors to construct a war memorial university and hospital in Aruu county, where both Joseph Kony and Alice Lakwena launched their rebellions.
 Santa Okot, the secretary general of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), is another aspirant. Okot was the pioneer woman MP for Pader district and a member of the peace team in the failed peace talks with LRA. She stood on the NRM ticket in 2006 and lost to Judith Akello.
 The Democratic Party is fronting Vincent Okoth Obutu, a secondary school teacher.
Okoth says he contributed towards the construction of classrooms at Acholi Bur secondary school and also built latrines at the same school. “I am also sensitising the people on social issues such as contributing towards education and projects like poultry,†he adds.
 The DP aspirant says members of the community have built three classrooms at Acholi Bur secondary school, which he has to roof. He says he mobilised the community to build five primary schools, which were taken up by the Government in areas of Wang-Opok, Lamin-Nyim, Labwor-Omor, Adoo and Amoko.
 “I am the only heavyweight who can uproot Odonga Otto in 2011.â€
Bukooli south, Bugiri
The incumbent, Patrick Ochieng, is to face two of his party members in the NRM primaries.
If he jumps this hurdle, he will wrestle with former Workers’ legislator Martin Wandera, who is standing on the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) ticket.
Wandera is currently working as a private consultant at the Centre for Labour Research and Studies in Kampala.
In 2006, he stood for the Bukooli South race on the FDC ticket but lost to Ochieng. He paid a heavy price for belonging to a different political party from his father. Wandera’s father, Ramadhan
Odwori, is a staunch NRM supporter. He campaigned for the NRM flag bearer, Ochieng, against his son. Odwori is a former resident district commissioner for Lira district, who retired in 2000.
In a bid to re-launch himself and take Ochieng’s seat, Wandera has been canvassing for support in the constituency, especially during the last three months.
Wandera works with the electricity regulatory authority. He claims to have attended parliamentary sessions in over 10 countries in Africa and Latin America. He has since late last year moved to the Sigulu islands canvassing for support.
But Ochieng says he is confident about retaining his seat and Wandera’s moves do not scare him. Recently, he constructed a bridge connecting Sigulu islands to the mainland. The bridge is said to have cost sh100m.
Having been at the forefront of lobbying for the creation of Namayingo district, Ochieng is likely to be rewarded by voters. He insists he has done enough ground work to ensure he returns to the parliament.
“I am the only member of parliament from Bugiri, who has fulfilled 80 percent of my campaign pledges,†he said.
 Ochieng said his only concern is some of his political opponents who are taking advantage of the poor state of roads in the constituency to campaign against him.
“These roads are supposed to be maintained by the central goverment but you find someone telling people that I as Ochieng, I am accountable for their repairs,†he said.
Ochieng’s other rivals in the party primaries are Stephen Dede, the LC3 chairman of Buyinja sub-county and Julius Wandera, a public relations professional.
Dede, who owns three schools in Buyinja, also has other businesses in Bugiri, Kampala and Dubai. His financial muscle could work in his favour.
 He enjoys majority support, especially from fishermen who operate on the shores of Busiro, Lugala, Biso and Sigulu islands. He has given them fishing nets and boats.
He is also known to be a good mobiliser, who has always managed to unite the youth through organising sports activities, especially during public holidays. His other advantage is that Buyinja sub-county, where he enjoys the majority of his support, has the biggest population in the constituency.
Busujju, Mityana district
With less than a year left to the 2011 elections, a hot race has started in Mityana district.
Stiff competition lies between the members of the NRM, where atleast two or more are vying for the seat.
State minister for economic monitoring Vincent Nyanzi, also the Busujju member of parliament, is battling with the LC5 chairperson Joseph Musoke.
Musoke is an accountant who has worked with many national and international organisations.
He is the vice-chairperson NRM in Mityana. Before Mityana became a district, he served as a councillor and then chairman in Mubende. He has declared that he wants to run for Parliament. For the past two years, Musoke and Nyanzi have been at loggerheads.
Musoke accuses Nyanzi of talking ill about the district leadership. Nyanzi has never attended any district council meeting or function.
Nyanzi, an NRM diehard who has been a minister for a short period, seems confident that he is retaining his seat. He has gained some popularity because of his efforts to fight for the bibanja land holders who were facing eviction.
Still in Busujju are two more entrants, Aloysius Kyeyune of the Democratic Party and Israel Lubega Maaso, from NRM. Kyeyune is a commissioner of education in the Mengo government and a teacher.
He is the publicity secretary for DP in Mityana district. He calls himself “Etaala ya Busujju†(the light of Busujju). He has been holding football tournaments in the county and attends many functions, to make his presence felt.
A number of people in Busujju commended him for enabling them to get bursaries for their children from Mengo.
Lubega has for the past five years nicknamed himself Esuubi lya Bussujju, or Busujju’s hope. He is currently the LC5 councillor for Kakindu sub-county.
Mbale District Woman
The National Resistance Movement party primaries for the Mbale district Woman Member of Parliament are expected to be hotter than the definitive elections. Four party members are eyeing Erina Nagudi Rutangye’s seat.
They are Elizabeth Mabonga, a Mbale senior probation officer; Connie Nakayenze Galiwango, a teacher, Zipola Malisa, who works in Abim district and Suzan Wakabala, a lawyer.
In addition, Forum for Democratic Change candidate Mariam Nagudi Wambedde says she has recovered from her loss in the 2006 elections and is determined to beat Rutangye this time.
Rutangye boasts of vigorously promoting Government programmes in the district such as acquisition of coffee seedlings for farmers under the National Agricultural Advisory Services and helping families adopt energy-saving stoves that reduce the health risk posed by smoke.
“I have mobilised the formation of SACCOs and lobbied for a solar energy project, where users contribute only 20% while institutions pay 50% of the total cost of installation,†Rutangye said.
She promises that if re-elected, she will lobby the Government for extension of electricity and gravity water schemes to rural areas.
Opponents of Rutangye, however, say she has paid more attention to her home area and has not spread her development projects to cover the entire district.
Wakabala says she wants to address issues affecting the youth who constitute the largest part of the population, because they have been neglected over the years.
Mabonga, popularly known as Betty, says many people advised her to contest for the seat basing on the way she served them on children and women issues.
She had intended to contest in 2006, but pulled out citing family demands after the death of her husband. “I have accepted to take up the challenge since I am not new to politics.
I have served as a councillor at parish, sub-county and municipality level, but pulled out following a law that barred civil servants from holding political positions,â€Â Mabonga said.
She says her working experience with organisations like UWESO, Uganda Discharge Prison Aid Society, Foundation for Development of Needy Communities and Salem Brotherhood among several others, has given her a rich experience in working for vulnerable groups.
“As a trained teacher, social worker and administrator, I look forward, with confidence, to sail through the NRM primaries because of the support and support the electorate has shown me.â€
The fourth NRM aspirant, Zipola Malisa, is the secretary to Abim district service commission. She has also served as sub-county chief in Mbale. She plans to lobby for women to get a fair share of the Government programmes.
“I will ensure that the sh10m constituency development fund benefits the constituents,†Malisa promises.
She says in her job as a sub-county chief for 12 years, she has gained vast experience by interacting with people and is, therefore, in a better position to represent Mbale.
Another NRM aspirant is Connie Nakayenze Galiwango, who had been nominated for the recently concluded Mbale Municipality parliamentary by-election but bowed out citing family pressure.
The winner in the NRM primaries will tussle it out with Mariam Nagudi of FDC, who says she was robbed of victory in 2006. Most of her support is likely to come from Mbale municipality and Bungokho North constituency.
She plans to lobby the government for development programmes for widows, orphans, single mothers and the youth.
Nagudi is a secondary school teacher, who is pursuing further studies at the Islamic University (IUIU).
The contests will cut across; from president, parliamentary constituencies to local government.
As the temperatures begin to rise, Saturday Vision puts a barometer on the political climate; analysing the aspirants and the issues that are likely to influence voter choices
ARUU COUNTY, PADER DISTRICT
Samuel Odonga Otto, who has served as the MP for two terms, will face stiff competition from several candidates including his uncle, John Richard Otema.
The vocal Forum for Democratic Change legislator won the seat in 2001 and 2006 partly because of his charisma and because the National Resistance Movement was unpopular in the area.
As a strong Government critic, Odonga easily won the seat. He made so much noise about the suffering caused by the Lord’s Resistance Army insurgency that the locals believed this helped turn the Government and international support towards them.
Voters are also happy with his contributions during parliamentary debates that they have always been willing to forgive him for achieving little on the ground.
However, as the tide changes, it is not clear how long this goodwill will last.
The NRM, which was unpopular in the entire Acholi sub-region because of the LRA war, has started gaining ground.
Most former occupants of internally displaced people’s camps have got iron sheets and resettlement packages to start a new life in their villages.
Consequently, anti-government sentiment is no longer as strong in the region and a number of politicians have gained the courage to stand on the NRM ticket.
One of them is Otto’s uncle, Otema, the proprietor of Pader Central High School and a lecturer at Gulu University. “I sponsor 17 orphans and girls for education. Those who are talented in sports are given free education,†Otema boasts.
 He outlines his priority as eradication of poverty as people resettle in their villages. “As leaders, we need to guide people on how they can make use of their land to make money and eradicate poverty.â€
 Otema hails the NRM government for initiating programmes like the Peace Recovery and Development Plan, Northern Uganda Social Action Fund and the National Agricultural Advisory Services, which are improving the wellbeing of the people in the rural areas.
“We need to soften our hearts as leaders and to reconcile and provide better social services to the people.â€
Another contender is Nock James Kidega, a renowned NRM cadre in Acholi. “I am looking at poverty eradication through forming groups, which will get revolving funds for income-generating activities.â€
 He has been supporting women, youth and farmers’ groups.
Kidega also says he wants to eradicate preventable diseases through sensitising the people and has pledged to introduce a mobile clinic to provide healthcare.
Kidega also plans to eradicate illiteracy by advocating construction of more vocational schools. From here, the youth can get skills in bicycle, phone and motorcycle repair.
He added that the Government should set up a scholarship scheme for students from the north, because of the suffering they have undergone.
 Another NRM aspirant is Seydou Adolatona. In 2006, Adolatona, who is a social worker with an NGO in Kitgum district, stepped down.
But he says his time to lead the people of Aruu has come. He says as a farmer, his priority is promoting agriculture and empowering the people to realise their potential.
 “Our people have the potential to farm, but they lack leaders who can guide them on how to use their land to develop,†he remarks.
 “I have a programme on Radio Pa Lwak, on which we and sensitise people on where they can get market for their produce and loans for income-generating activities,†he notes.
 He plans to lobby for power to be extended to the area so that small-scale processing plants can be established in the constituency to create jobs and income.
The fourth aspirant on the NRM ticket is Justine Odong, 35. He was guild president at the Law Development Centre and speaker Nkumba University Law Society. He has been offering legal advice to the people on land matters, defilement and theft on Radio Pa Lwak.
“People have printed T-shirts, while others have produced songs in my name to show their support for me,†he said.
 Odong says he wants to empower people by setting up markets and building health centres at parish level, as well as setting up small-scale processing of shearnut butter.
He also plans to revive tourist attractions such as Aruu Falls. He promises to lobby the Government and donors to construct a war memorial university and hospital in Aruu county, where both Joseph Kony and Alice Lakwena launched their rebellions.
 Santa Okot, the secretary general of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), is another aspirant. Okot was the pioneer woman MP for Pader district and a member of the peace team in the failed peace talks with LRA. She stood on the NRM ticket in 2006 and lost to Judith Akello.
 The Democratic Party is fronting Vincent Okoth Obutu, a secondary school teacher.
Okoth says he contributed towards the construction of classrooms at Acholi Bur secondary school and also built latrines at the same school. “I am also sensitising the people on social issues such as contributing towards education and projects like poultry,†he adds.
 The DP aspirant says members of the community have built three classrooms at Acholi Bur secondary school, which he has to roof. He says he mobilised the community to build five primary schools, which were taken up by the Government in areas of Wang-Opok, Lamin-Nyim, Labwor-Omor, Adoo and Amoko.
 “I am the only heavyweight who can uproot Odonga Otto in 2011.â€
Bukooli south, Bugiri
The incumbent, Patrick Ochieng, is to face two of his party members in the NRM primaries.
If he jumps this hurdle, he will wrestle with former Workers’ legislator Martin Wandera, who is standing on the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) ticket.
Wandera is currently working as a private consultant at the Centre for Labour Research and Studies in Kampala.
In 2006, he stood for the Bukooli South race on the FDC ticket but lost to Ochieng. He paid a heavy price for belonging to a different political party from his father. Wandera’s father, Ramadhan
Odwori, is a staunch NRM supporter. He campaigned for the NRM flag bearer, Ochieng, against his son. Odwori is a former resident district commissioner for Lira district, who retired in 2000.
In a bid to re-launch himself and take Ochieng’s seat, Wandera has been canvassing for support in the constituency, especially during the last three months.
Wandera works with the electricity regulatory authority. He claims to have attended parliamentary sessions in over 10 countries in Africa and Latin America. He has since late last year moved to the Sigulu islands canvassing for support.
But Ochieng says he is confident about retaining his seat and Wandera’s moves do not scare him. Recently, he constructed a bridge connecting Sigulu islands to the mainland. The bridge is said to have cost sh100m.
Having been at the forefront of lobbying for the creation of Namayingo district, Ochieng is likely to be rewarded by voters. He insists he has done enough ground work to ensure he returns to the parliament.
“I am the only member of parliament from Bugiri, who has fulfilled 80 percent of my campaign pledges,†he said.
 Ochieng said his only concern is some of his political opponents who are taking advantage of the poor state of roads in the constituency to campaign against him.
“These roads are supposed to be maintained by the central goverment but you find someone telling people that I as Ochieng, I am accountable for their repairs,†he said.
Ochieng’s other rivals in the party primaries are Stephen Dede, the LC3 chairman of Buyinja sub-county and Julius Wandera, a public relations professional.
Dede, who owns three schools in Buyinja, also has other businesses in Bugiri, Kampala and Dubai. His financial muscle could work in his favour.
 He enjoys majority support, especially from fishermen who operate on the shores of Busiro, Lugala, Biso and Sigulu islands. He has given them fishing nets and boats.
He is also known to be a good mobiliser, who has always managed to unite the youth through organising sports activities, especially during public holidays. His other advantage is that Buyinja sub-county, where he enjoys the majority of his support, has the biggest population in the constituency.
Busujju, Mityana district
With less than a year left to the 2011 elections, a hot race has started in Mityana district.
Stiff competition lies between the members of the NRM, where atleast two or more are vying for the seat.
State minister for economic monitoring Vincent Nyanzi, also the Busujju member of parliament, is battling with the LC5 chairperson Joseph Musoke.
Musoke is an accountant who has worked with many national and international organisations.
He is the vice-chairperson NRM in Mityana. Before Mityana became a district, he served as a councillor and then chairman in Mubende. He has declared that he wants to run for Parliament. For the past two years, Musoke and Nyanzi have been at loggerheads.
Musoke accuses Nyanzi of talking ill about the district leadership. Nyanzi has never attended any district council meeting or function.
Nyanzi, an NRM diehard who has been a minister for a short period, seems confident that he is retaining his seat. He has gained some popularity because of his efforts to fight for the bibanja land holders who were facing eviction.
Still in Busujju are two more entrants, Aloysius Kyeyune of the Democratic Party and Israel Lubega Maaso, from NRM. Kyeyune is a commissioner of education in the Mengo government and a teacher.
He is the publicity secretary for DP in Mityana district. He calls himself “Etaala ya Busujju†(the light of Busujju). He has been holding football tournaments in the county and attends many functions, to make his presence felt.
A number of people in Busujju commended him for enabling them to get bursaries for their children from Mengo.
Lubega has for the past five years nicknamed himself Esuubi lya Bussujju, or Busujju’s hope. He is currently the LC5 councillor for Kakindu sub-county.
Mbale District Woman
The National Resistance Movement party primaries for the Mbale district Woman Member of Parliament are expected to be hotter than the definitive elections. Four party members are eyeing Erina Nagudi Rutangye’s seat.
They are Elizabeth Mabonga, a Mbale senior probation officer; Connie Nakayenze Galiwango, a teacher, Zipola Malisa, who works in Abim district and Suzan Wakabala, a lawyer.
In addition, Forum for Democratic Change candidate Mariam Nagudi Wambedde says she has recovered from her loss in the 2006 elections and is determined to beat Rutangye this time.
Rutangye boasts of vigorously promoting Government programmes in the district such as acquisition of coffee seedlings for farmers under the National Agricultural Advisory Services and helping families adopt energy-saving stoves that reduce the health risk posed by smoke.
“I have mobilised the formation of SACCOs and lobbied for a solar energy project, where users contribute only 20% while institutions pay 50% of the total cost of installation,†Rutangye said.
She promises that if re-elected, she will lobby the Government for extension of electricity and gravity water schemes to rural areas.
Opponents of Rutangye, however, say she has paid more attention to her home area and has not spread her development projects to cover the entire district.
Wakabala says she wants to address issues affecting the youth who constitute the largest part of the population, because they have been neglected over the years.
Mabonga, popularly known as Betty, says many people advised her to contest for the seat basing on the way she served them on children and women issues.
She had intended to contest in 2006, but pulled out citing family demands after the death of her husband. “I have accepted to take up the challenge since I am not new to politics.
I have served as a councillor at parish, sub-county and municipality level, but pulled out following a law that barred civil servants from holding political positions,â€Â Mabonga said.
She says her working experience with organisations like UWESO, Uganda Discharge Prison Aid Society, Foundation for Development of Needy Communities and Salem Brotherhood among several others, has given her a rich experience in working for vulnerable groups.
“As a trained teacher, social worker and administrator, I look forward, with confidence, to sail through the NRM primaries because of the support and support the electorate has shown me.â€
The fourth NRM aspirant, Zipola Malisa, is the secretary to Abim district service commission. She has also served as sub-county chief in Mbale. She plans to lobby for women to get a fair share of the Government programmes.
“I will ensure that the sh10m constituency development fund benefits the constituents,†Malisa promises.
She says in her job as a sub-county chief for 12 years, she has gained vast experience by interacting with people and is, therefore, in a better position to represent Mbale.
Another NRM aspirant is Connie Nakayenze Galiwango, who had been nominated for the recently concluded Mbale Municipality parliamentary by-election but bowed out citing family pressure.
The winner in the NRM primaries will tussle it out with Mariam Nagudi of FDC, who says she was robbed of victory in 2006. Most of her support is likely to come from Mbale municipality and Bungokho North constituency.
She plans to lobby the government for development programmes for widows, orphans, single mothers and the youth.
Nagudi is a secondary school teacher, who is pursuing further studies at the Islamic University (IUIU).