As the country gears up for elections this Thursday, candidates across the country are canvassing for votes in their respective constituencies. In Tororo, the incumbent district chairperson, Mr John Okea, who is also the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party flag bearer, has since doubled his efforts to retain his seat.
Mr Okea has been occupying the seat since 2021 after he was declared winner with 113,126 votes, beating his main rival, Mr Emmanuel Osuna, who got 28,352 votes, according to the Uganda Gazette, General Notice No. 425 of 2021. Mr Osuna is not participating in the race. The incumbent is facing stiff competition from three other contenders.
They are Mr Paul Gonza of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) and independent candidates John Obbo and John Mike Oluka.
Mr Okea pledges to consolidate what he describes as development gains achieved through government programmes during his tenure. He also promises to continue pushing for income generating projects to help lift residents out of poverty, arguing that people do not need government handouts to develop but should instead be empowered with skills.
“Our theme is protecting the gains and my people know what I have done in my term of office, ranging from advocating for the subdivision of the district, lobbying for various projects, among others and time will tell,” Mr Okea said.
Mr Gonza, the FDC candidate, has pledged to promote wealth creation. Speaking recently during his campaign launch, he said his leadership will focus on overcoming ignorance, disease and crime.
‘I will go by any party that has a good idea that has a focus on advocating for every household to come out of poverty,’ Mr Gonza stated.
He also pledged to improve agricultural production in the district. Mr Gonza added that if given the mandate he would empower unemployed youth with hands-on skills to be job creators rather than job seekers. Mr Gonza, who was once a correspondent of Daily Monitor, said his manifesto focuses on reducing the number of government prisons in the district and turning them into rehabilitation centres for individuals who are likely to commit crime instead of waiting for them to commit crime.
Candidate Obbo said his campaigns are centred on quality education and creating employment opportunities for the unemployed youth. ‘The idea of giving cash to voters as bribes is primitive. Voters need a sustainable way of looking after themselves,” Mr Obbo said.
He added that his priority is to lobby for government funding to strengthen village savings and credit associations, which he said are critical in enabling communities to access loans. ‘Strong savings and loans groups will help reduce reliance on moneylenders who charge high interest rates,’ Mr Obbo said.
Voters speak out
Mr Robert Opio, a voter, said the next district LC5 chairperson should advocate for the speedy operationalisation of the proposed three districts and a city that has been carved out of Tororo District. ‘It is the wish of all the people of Tororo District that the new administrative units is operationalised as soon as possible,” he said.
Mr James Onyango, the district councillor for Nagongera Sub-county, said the district chairperson should push for the upgrade of the health centre IVs to hospitals and the general referral hospital to the status of regional referral hospital.
‘Tororo District is lucky that it has three health centre IVs that are Mukuju, Nagongera and Mulanda. These health facilities should be upgraded because currently the district hospital is over-strained,’ Mr Onyango said.
Tororo District is located in eastern Uganda. It borders the Republic of Kenya to the east, Bugiri District to the west, Butaleja to the north, Busia to the south and Mbale to the northeast. The district has six counties, one municipality with two divisions, 30 sub-counties, 10 town councils, 170 parishes and 1,338 villages.
The district headquarters are located in Tororo Municipality, which is about 214km from Kampala City.
The 2021 poll results
In 2021, the Tororo LC5 chairperson race attracted 10 candidates. Mr John Okea of NRM won the race with 113,126 votes after defeating Mr Emmanuel Osuna (Independent) who got 28,352, Wilson Okachuga (Independent) who got 5,258, FDC’s Paul Gonza who got 4,428 and Gerald Wandera Obbo (Independent) who got 2,423 votes.
Others in race were Mohammed Agamile Shafi (NUP) who got 2,707 votes, Fred Onduri Machulu (Independent) who got 1,366, John Obbo (Independent) who garnered 1,281, Asa Kalami (Independent) who got 836, and David Ochieng (Independent) who garnered 733 votes.