National Unity Platform president Robert Kyagulanyi has cancelled a talkshow on a radio station in Lira District after the management refused to host him as he drums for the party candidate in the Dokolo Woman MP by-election.
Artiste-turned politician Kyagulanyi, known by his stage name Bobi Wine, was scheduled to appear on Radio QFM on Monday morning. This was after sending the whole of Sunday garnering support for the party candidate in the Dokolo Woman MP by-election, Harriet Ageno.
But Bobi Wine said this was not possible.
“Unfortunately we couldn’t proceed with our radio programme in Dokolo this morning because the management of this station said they were scared of UCC switching them off if they allowed us to speak to the people of Lango about the general issues of the struggle against Museveni,” he posted on X.
“The cowards have gone ahead to intimidate the people whose Public Address Systems we have been using and taken them away last minute. Either way, the message of change will be preached,” he added.
Nevertheless, Bobi Wine campaigned for Ageno on Sunday without any incident.
On Thursday, March 21, residents of Dokolo District will head to the polls to elect their Woman Member of Parliament.
The Electoral Commission (EC) has nominated seven candidates to compete for the slot that became vacant following the death of Cecilia Atim Ogwal on January 18.
Those nominated include her daughter, Dr Rosemary Alwoch Ogwal, running on FDC ticket, Ms Janet Adongo Elau, the National Resistance Movement (NRM) candidate, and UPC’s Sarah Aguti Nyangkori.
Both Ms Adongo and Ms Aguti lost to late Ogwal in the 2021 parliamentary election.
The EC also cleared Dr Esther Akullo Obot Otada, Ms Rebecca Arao, and Dr Grace Anna Lalam, all independent candidates, and Ms Harriet Ageno of National Unity Platform (NUP) to run for the seat.
But as the district prepares for the polls, residents list several unresolved issues, which they think their new legislator should address.
They are; a broken education system coupled with a high cost of living, hunger, poor road network, shortage of drugs, and inadequate health workers in public health facilities.
Residents say the most critical problem is the lack of government support.
“The little resources that the government is supposed to send to the district do not seem to come on time. I keep hearing them [duty bearers] saying they are not able to perform their duties because resources are not there. They say they were supposed to be given Shs1b for roads but remittance is poor,” says Mr John Baptist Okello-Okello, the former district chairperson.
“So, you find the roads are not done, and if the road network is poor, it cripples access to all social services. I don’t know the situation in other districts but here in Dokolo, roads are collapsing. The maintenance has failed, and the district leaders keep on crying they have not been provided with the resources,” he adds.
Also, the issue of drug stockout has remained a big problem in the area.
According to voters, almost all health facilities in Dokolo always run out of essential drugs.
“Yes, we used to have a shortage of drugs in our government health facilities but now, the situation seems to have gone worse,” the former district chairperson adds.
Ms Lillian Oluk, a resident of Okwalongwen Sub-county, says inadequate health workers and a shortage of essential drugs have affected access to effective healthcare services.
“At times when you fall sick and visit the government health facility in our area, they tell you there are no drugs. Instead, health workers refer you to private health facilities where drugs are very expensive,” she says.
To improve health service delivery, Ms Esther Apio, a member of the Village Health Team (VHT) at Awelomer Village in Okwalongwen Sub-county, implores the new MP to lobby for the upgrade of Dokolo Health Centre IV to a district hospital.
“At times when an expectant mother has complications during labour, our lower health facilities may not be able to handle such cases and we end up losing either the mother or newborn or both,” she says.
Over the years, there has been a remarkable improvement in the education system in northern Uganda despite several challenges.
However, local leaders and residents say the quality of education in some schools in Dokolo has dropped significantly.
According to the 2014 National Population and Housing Census (NPHC), 5,574 (15.7 percent) males aged 18 years and above are illiterate in Dokolo, while 19,160 females of the same age bracket (45.8 percent) are illiterate.
Mr Okello-Okello says Dokolo is struggling to provide quality education to children due to a high teacher-pupil ratio.
Indeed, Dokolo with a staff ceiling of 1,118, had a shortfall of 374 teachers to provide services to its 60 schools, according to a Community Score Card (CSC) administered by the Apac Anti-Corruption Coalition, a non-governmental organisation, in 2019.
Almost four years down the road, the situation has not changed, according to the former district chairperson, who says the number of children enrolled in government schools is not proportional to the number of teachers.
Mr Joseph Amyedu, a resident of Dokolo Town Council, says there is also a need for the government to increase the number of teachers to help the learners.
“More government schools should be established and qualified teachers recruited to improve the quality of education,” he says.
But the chairperson of Dokolo District Service Commission, Mr Okello-Okello, wonders whether the seven aspirants in the queue to replace the late Ogwal will perform any miracle.
“I don’t know whether these young ladies who are trying to go to Parliament will address those critical issues but I think even people who have been in Parliament already should take these issues very seriously,” he says, adding that whatever little budgetary resources the government plans for the district should come.
“During my period, it wasn’t a lot of money but it was coming on time. So, you could do something. Now they say a lot of money is there. Whether it comes and it’s wasted, I don’t know but it seems to be a general problem in the country,” he says.