The campaigns in Dokolo district are in high gear to fill the position of the Woman Member of Parliament following the death of Cecilia Barbra Ogwal, who was presenting the the area in the August house.
Ogwal, who until her last breath played her political cards subscribing to the opposition Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), succumbed to cancer related illness from India on January 18, 2024.
Left vacant, the district now is filled up with posters of several candidates preaching their capabilities to replace Cecilia Ogwal, who was vocal and outspoken on top of her effective representation.
The electoral commission on Monday dully nominated five determined candidates who vowed to provide effective service deliveries to the communities of Dokolo District.
The National Resistance Movement ticket (NRM) fronted Janet Rose Adongo Elau, Rosemary Austine Alwoc Ogwal holding the Forum for Democratic Change ticket to replace her late mother, Sarah Aguti Nyangkori representing Uganda People’s Congress (UPC), and Harriet Ageno of National Unity Platform (NUP).
Whereas Dr Esther Akullo Obot and Dr Anna Grace Atine Lalam are running as independent candidates.
The campaigns will officially kick off March 13, up to March 19, and elections shall be held on the 21st of the same month. The District comprises 484 villages and 71 parishes with 175 polling stations where the voting exercise will take place
Ogwal’s daughter Alwoc said she wants the district to have better health facilities, saying her mother died from abroad because of the challenging status of hospitals in the country.
“I am delighted to be nominated, but we don’t have a district hospital that my late mother, Hon Cecila Atim Ogwal, and other members of Parliament were trying to follow upon. I will ensure we institute the district hospital here so that our people can receive good health care services that they deserve,” said Alwoc after the nomination conducted at Dokolo district electoral commission office.
Elaborating her manifesto, NRM’s Adongo Elau expressed determination to ensure quality services, especially good health service delivery, which is provided to the people of Dokolo.
According to Dr Esther Akullo Obot, the district is hit by extreme poverty, promising to advocate for effective development to transform the electorates of the area.
She said the road infrastructure remains worrying with residents struggling to connect to over 300 villages in the district.
“We have in our consultations found a lot of challenges in the social service sectors. The education, infrastructure, health, water, and sanitation among other sectors are lcking intervention,” she said.
She added that “Poverty is the biggest challenge of Dokolo, and we may not be as flamboyant as you can see because we are a representation of poverty. If you go down to the community, they do not even know what is happening because of the impassable road, which is even worse during the rainy season.”
Akullo expressed commitment to bring change in the area and aid the development of the ordinary electorate.
