Arua sets bar higher with live parliamentary debate

Action. The candidates after the public debate on Saturday night. PHOTOS BY FELIX WAROM OKELLO

What you need to know:

  • Background. The eleven men in the race attended. The only female candidate, Ms Nusura Tiperu of the ruling NRM, was a no-show.
  • Nyero carried to the podium his political entertainment characterised in recent days by his decision to erect a billboard saturated with information and declaring himself as President Museveni’s closest friend.
    In his hand were 10 paper files and he bombarded the audience with school-kind debating jargons. The crowd thundered.

Kampala. It is a parliamentary by-election like no other. The political temperature in Arua is at its highest and political bigwigs in the country, including President Museveni, are in town for a mop-up on the last campaign leg today.
Some 40,000 voters are expected to file at polling stations on Wednesday. They will be picking a Member of Parliament to replace Ibrahim Abiriga, who was shot alongside his brother Saidi Kongo in Kawanda, Wakiso District, two months ago.

And the icing on the cake for a largely peaceful campaign for the Arua Municipality by-election was a joint debate on Saturday evening that lasted almost six hours. The eleven men in the race attended. The only female candidate, Ms Nusura Tiperu, of the ruling NRM, was a no-show.
Ms Tiperu skipped the Saturday debate and two of her agents later told this newspaper that she was away in Rhino Camp for Abiriga’s last funeral rites.
Debate moderator Elly Nayenda’s attempt to communicate the same to attendants was drowned in heckling and he abandoned it.

Arua District NGO Network (ADINGON) organised the discourse to offer a joint civil platform for them to put forward their agenda and answer critical questions on real issues affecting voters.
It was a re-enactment of the 2016 televised presidential debates, except this one was broadcast live on local FM radios, not television. And just like NRM presidential flag bearer Yoweri Museveni skipped the first of the two presidential debates, the party’s candidate in the by-election Tiperu was missing in action on Saturday night.
The party supporters in the crowd turned to boo other candidates, targeting former Terego MP Kassiano Wadri and Mr Jackson Atima, an estranged ruling party politician also standing on Independent ticket.

The candidates
Eight of the candidates were on time. Rotarian and Independent candidate Robert Ejiku, Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) flag bearer Bruce Musema and Mr Wadri arrived minutes later. The trio is in the leading pack in the race alongside, perhaps, Ms Tiperu.
Those in time included Mr Simon Avutia, a banker; musician Kennedy Madira, better known by the stage name JM Kennedy; Alfred Nyakuni aka Unckle Nyax; a radio presenter who resigned his teaching job to run for the political office; former United Nations employee Sunday Anguandia; Jaffar Alekua, a former head teacher who has lost at least four previous parliamentary elections; a one Safi Bavuga; and, political nomad Elton Nyero. He stood and lost in Kitgum and in Aruu before crossing River Nile to try his luck.

They each straddled with self-assured disposition and took their spots on the rostrums before singing the national anthem.
Organisers read from the rule book, which included no abuses, mutual respect, answering the question asked and an opportunity for each candidate to ask the others.
The Muni University secretary, Dr Epiphany Odubuker, in opening remarks commended the largely incident-free campaigns and asked each candidate to commit to respect the will of the people as expressed in election outcome and keep the social contract with voters.
“My hope and prayer is that the people’s choice will be respected. We don’t want to see a situation where people make their choice and someone manipulates it,” he said in reference to fears of possible rigging.

The candidates answered questions from creating jobs to legislating for the welfare of all citizens, urban regeneration, promoting businesses and attracting investment, infrastructure upgrades and water and electricity supply. They each spoke in similar fashion, committing to progress their peaceful conduct beyond election day.
Nyero carried to the podium his political entertainment characterised in recent days by his decision to erect a billboard saturated with information and declaring himself as President Museveni’s closest friend.
In his hand were 10 paper files and he bombarded the audience with school-kind debating jargons. The crowd thundered.

CANDIDATES SPEAK

Mr Francis Nyero (Independent)
“The dichotomy of me contesting here is the population in poverty, ignorance and diseases. We need to rehabilitate the human resource for the population.”

Mr Safi Bavuga, (Independent)
“If you elect me, I will get budget from the various ministries to ensure that the funds are well distributed according to the budget. I will link the NGOs in causing development in the municipality.”

Kennedy Madira (DP)
“Our grand fathers are still looking for jobs as watchmen; our grandmothers are looking for jobs as maids, our mothers are hawking ground nuts. I came into this by-election with a broken heart, to wake us up.”

Bruce Musema (FDC)
“The municipality is strategically located bordering DRC and the demand of the people is overwhelming yet there is leadership gap. The laws that are enacted in Parliament must bring unity and peace.”

Sunday Anguandia (Independent)
“I want effective representation, feedback, service delivery and accountability. This is where we have gone wrong for many years and that is why you don’t see services here.”

Simon Avutia, (Independent)
“I want to bring peace, unity and redeem the lost image of Arua. There is no common ground to demand for what we want in this municipality because we cannot even sit down with development partners.”

Kassiano Ezati Wadri (Independent)
“I bring to Arua Municipality an illustrious career experience, which is very important when it comes to offering leadership and representing in Parliament. I offered effective representation in the past.”

Robert Ejiku (Independent)
“The people of Arua municipality deserve focused leadership, a people manager and a leader, not a politician filled with lies. And a leader unites the people. I have a common man’s agenda...”

Alfred Nyakuni (Independent)
“My experience as a radio journalist and teacher has made me see the challenges our people face. I’m sacrificing, if voters accept, so that I represent them because their problem is mine too.”

Jackson Atima Lee (Independent)
“There is a need to link the people of Arua to the international community to get the resources needed for the population. I will continue lobbying...We need leaders who do not run away but help the needy.”