Will Minister Opendi retain her Tororo woman MP seat?

As the 2021 General Election fever rises, candidates across the country are doing all it takes to win over voters before the election day, which is on January 14, 2021.

Among these is the Minister of State for Minerals, Ms Sarah Achieng Opendi, also the incumbent Tororo District Woman MP.

Ms Opendi has been occupying the seat for a decade now, after she defeated former legislator, Ms Grace Oburu, in 2011.

However, she is now facing a tough challenge from Ms Jacinta Ayo, a graduate of human resource management from Islamic University in Uganda (IUIU), who is contesting as an Independent.

Ms Ayo lost to Ms Opendi in the National Resistance Movement (NRM) party primaries after she polled 56,000 votes while Ms Opendi got 69,995 votes and was declared winner after a protracted battle over who won, that lasted about a month before the party’s electoral commission finally declared the minister winner.

While speaking to Daily Monitor on December 10, Ms Ayo, who is agitating for change, said the voters, who are still in support of the minister, have been blinded and are not seeing how Tororo District has lagged behind in terms of development.

“The minister’s 10 years in office is enough and to make matters worse, she has not been performing to the expectations of the voters,” she said.
Ms Ayo said she has been participating in generating project proposals for communities which have earned the district support from donor communities.
“I have been doing that outside active politics but if I am voted, I will do more than this,’’ she said.
Others in the race are Ms Diana Chemutai Ojaka (Independent), Ms Sarah Abwin Emojong (Independent) and Rose Mary Abbo of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party.
Ms Chemutai said it is time to hold leaders accountable and evaluate their previous promises.
“We must draw a red line when choosing leaders. Some leaders have failed but they don’t want to leave. They keep hoodwinking voters,” she said.
She, however, said commercialisation of politics is the only reason which has kept non-performing leaders in elected offices.

“They dish out money, take key positions and accumulate wealth and forget voters. They resort to buying them when election time comes,’’ she said.
Ms Ojaka said: “It is on record that Ms Opendi served as Minister of State for Primary Health Care but it’s unfortunate that Tororo District general hospital lacks a scanning and X-ray machine to date.”

“Ms Opendi’s time of exit has come and she must go. The voters need better representation and service delivery,” she added.
Ms Emojong, an educationist, promised to lobby for scholarships and projects to empower women.

“My manifesto focuses on ensuring that job creation for youth, women empowerment in terms of setting up income generating activities, promotion of health services and better education have been taken care of,’’ she said. 

Ms Abbo said she will spearhead initiation of model schools for the girl child, champion reinforcement of domesticated laws so as to improve the welfare of a woman as well as end child marriages.  

What the public says
Although the political trends in the district show that the ruling NRM party dominates the district, political analysts argue that the chances of the minister retaining the seat are minimal.

Tororo District is home for the chairperson of NRM party electoral commission, Dr Tanga Odoi, who has  fallen out with Ms Opendi and has also vowed to campaign for Ms Ayo despite standing as an Independent.

Mr Silver Oketcho Sule, an opinion leader, however, said Ms Opendi is well placed to maintain her seat come 2021.
“Losing Ms Opendi in the next Parliament will be a big blow to Tororo District,” he said.

Mr Oketcho adds that the minister has been instrumental in advocating for access to better healthcare and also dedicated support of NRM party.
Some of the factors that influence voting outcomes in the district include tribe, service delivery and marriage.

During the NRM party primaries, Ms Opendi got more votes from West Budama, which is dominated by the Jopadhola, while her main challenger, Ms Ayo, garnered more votes in Tororo County, mostly dominated by the Iteso.

Mr Stephen Oyauna, a resident of Kayoro Sub-county, said they will vote for a candidate who supports the idea of granting Tororo County a district as per the colonial boundaries.

The agitation for a district status for the Iteso of Tororo county started in 1998. It reached its peak in 2005 when President Museveni visited the area. 
While addressing a rally in Mukuju Sub-county headquarters, a man ate a live rat to demonstrate that they had a distinct cultural identity from their counterparts, the Jopadhola.

Mr Paul Emolot, the Prime Minister of the Iteso Cultural Union, said the people of Tororo County have been agitating for self-autonomy for decades and they are running out of patience.

“Why is it that most of the counties have been made districts yet for Tororo county, they keep halting the demand? We need leaders who support our self-autonomy,” he said.

Opendi reacts
Despite arrows of accusation, Ms Opendi insists that it’s only during her regime that Tororo district has seen tremendous achievements in the health and education, among other sectors.

She said: “Even my consistent appointment in the ministerial positions has not been by accident but based on my performance.”

“They have resorted to using my name as their subject of discussion whenever they are talking to voters but the voters are enlightened and are keeping my votes,” he said.

She said her focus will be on empowering women and youth in order to fight poverty and unemployment.

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