Dokolo, (UG):- Voters in Dokolo District want the next person elected as the area woman MP in the forthcoming by-election to focus on improving service delivery in the northern Uganda district.
According to voters, services such as poor road infrastructure, inadequate and unstandardized health facilities, drug stockout, lack of electricity and poor education system in the locality need to be addressed.
They argued that the service delivery crisis in the Country, Dokolo District in particular, has significant implications for the country’s development agenda, as it hinders the progress towards the achievement of sustainable development goals.
Esther Apio, a resident of Awlomer village says; “The leader we shall elect should be able to lobby for the upgrade of Dokolo Health Center IV to a District Hospital because, at times when a pregnant mother who has complications is in labour, she fails to deliver from a Health Centre II or III,”
“You will find that a number of our mothers end up dying before reaching the Health Center IV due to poor roads and the long distance, ”Ms Apio who is also a member of the village health team stresses.
Lillian Oluk a resident of Okwalogwen village, in Dokolo District, says the shortage of health staff and lack of drugs in some of the government health facilities contributes to increased cases of maternal and infant mortality most especially amongst young mothers.
She says the kind of leader that they shall vote for should be able to lobby for services and represent their voices in parliament such that their voices are heard.
“We also have a challenge of poor roads, once we have good roads, the little food we produce will be able to reach the market thus improving our businesses and earning money. Because most buyers are unable to reach some of the farmers in the hard-to-reach areas,” Ms Oluk added.
To Joseph Amyedu who is also a resident of Awelomer village in Dokolo District, on top of the challenge of poor healthcare, their constituency also suffers high school dropouts as most parents lack funds to cater for their children’s school dues.
Amyedu says that their leaders should agitate for free secondary school education to keep young girls in schools.
“Because some of the community access roads within our villages are in sorry states yet the distance of some of the schools are also far, to me this is the big contributor to poor performance because, by the time a child reaches school, he/she may be tired already,” he added.
What aspirants say
Dr Hanna Grace Lalam Atine, a contestant under the independent ticket, says that once elected, she will ensure that the quality of education in terms of learners’ performance is improved.
“The education of this land is not appealing because last year we were the fifth last in the whole country. But once elected, I will ensure that the standard of education in this locality is uplifted,” Dr Lalam said during one of her consultative meetings with the locals of Dokolo recently.
Dr Rosemary Alwoc Ogwal, the first daughter to the late Cecilia Atim Ogwal who is running under the Forum for Democratic Party ticket (FDC) pledged to continue supporting her mother’s education trust fund in a bid to improve the education system in the District.
According to Alwoc, she wants to engage the government to improve the performance of students going to government schools, which she said those with low-income families lag due to financial constraints.
Jane Rosemary Adongo Elau, the NRM Flag bearer in the fourth coming Dokolo woman MP seat pledged to work to improve health service delivery, given her medical background.
However, Esther Akuul Obot, an independent candidate rallied members of the general public to elect more vibrant leaders who are focused on agitating for their voters’ interests rather than electing MPs who abandon legislative roles to fulfil selfish interests.
Dokolo By-Election date
The District Woman Representative seat for Dokolo became vacant following the demise of the former Member of Parliament Cecilia Atim Ogwal, who died of cancer-related illness in a hospital in India on January 18th 2024.
The Uganda Independent Electoral Commission set March 21st, 2024, as a date for by-election.
The EC Chairperson, Justice Simon Byabakama, while unveiling the election roadmap last month at Dokolo Technical School said the campaign will last for only seven days from March 13 to March 19th after nomination on March 11th and 12th March 2024 at the District Headquarters.
On the ground so far eight aspirants are traversing the district soliciting votes in the name of consultative meetings.
They include Janet Rose Adong Elau of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) and Sarah Aguti Nyangkori of the Uganda People’s Congress (UPC).
The duo contested against Ogwal in the 2021 general elections but lost to her. Dr Rosemary Alwoc Ogwal of the Forum for democratic change (FDC) party and Harriet Ageno of the National Unity Platform (NUP)
Others are Irine Amongi Ajwika, Esther Akullo Obot, Rabbecca Arao and Dr Anna Grace Lalam, all NRM-leaning candidates contesting as independents.
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