The Tatanic Battle for Arua city in 2026

Osman Draga: Apr 11, 2023 

Today Africa News established itself  to keep you stay informed and stay current, in this respect the editorial team  is on top of its game featuring  the 2026  Arua city Parliamentary elections which with no doubt will be among one of the areas  to watch out in 2026 elections.
Arua city is always a tough battleground for votes right from NRM primary elections up to the general election and will not be an exception in 2026 as  strong contenders well identified with the National Resistant Movement (NRM) have chest thumped themselves with their agents already parading appreciable records of performance out to the voters.
And from all the indicators it will be a three horse race in NRM primary election and support of the three horses are swelling with strengths building from grassroots with  political sagacity, under ground campaigns involving mouth talks have all started in tea drinking places, party places, funeral places, worshpping places, markets, drinking places and at boda-boda stages. It is not a campaign that will end quietly, it is a campaign that will see a lot of altercations, with a politically motivated threats, intimidation to create an enabling environment of fear even journalists themselves will all be at target with possible threats and allegations to muzzle them from doing their job.
The rancorous will only  end after 2026 general elections and as witnessed during the last election, the campaign will be characterized with full of bile, bitterness, and fought with money, a well monetised one making it difficult to resist temptations of financial inducement offered in exchange for votes and with the inflow of supporters to that particular camp coupled with the prominent  agent defections  to the camp and the caliber of the aspirants including other factors on play, such as godfatherism, financial chest, perceptions of personal characters, antecedents, manifesto strengths  and support by critical segments of the population. the Arua city race will be unpredictable.
However, it should be remembered that,  NRM  Party primary game is always played in a rough fields  which causes a lot of injuries to its potential players,  crisis is likely to brew with fallout after the party election leading  to factions within the party which may have adverse effect and this  is something oppositions in Arua city will follow closely, how to take advantage of the divided house after  collapsing  against itself and this might be the reason why the leader of the opposition Mathias Mpuuga journeyed himself to Arua city  to tell them to adopt strategy that can prosecute the National Resident Movement in 2026 election.
Mpuuga, who is also the deputy president in charge of the Central region, engaged  the opposition members in discussions focusing on how to win  2026 general election as opposition and now our (Today Africanews) school of thought, the minds of the opposition in Arua city is on the possible formation of election alliance to enable them  field a strongest candidate powered by National Unity Platform, Forum For Democratic Charge, Alliance for National Transformation, Democratic Party  and Uganda People's Congress Party, ( NUFADU) to humiliate NRM  in  the Parliamentary election come 2026 something which NRM might scoff at with wincing eyes since in Ugandan history no alliance has worked very successfully.
Anyway the rancour will be an epic showdown between the NRM and the oppositions who  are still crying foul in the last election claiming that it was robbed victory through the involvement of soldiers and the employment of money. 
But the National Resistant Movement no doubt as a ruling party looks very strong  and will not accept the opposition to shove its candidate out easily powered by the alliance,  it will equal do everything possible to divide the house of opposition until it also collapses at the eve of the election and use all its resources and structures to win that election.
Opposition still remain high with braggadocio who undoubtedly are looking  at themselves not as pushover in the politics of Arua city, they will not accept to suffer another defeat this time  from NRM as they have only won 3 elections, compared to  NRM's  5 win  out of 8 elections since Constituent Assembly election in 1994 to-date.
 The pendulum swinging election in Arua city is as follows:
 Constituent  Assembly election 1994 that won by Late Zuberi Atamvaku (UPC) 
Parliamentary elections held in 1996  won by Dr. Ambassador late Joram Jumabuti Ajeani (NRM)
Parliamentary election 2001 won by Saidi Nasur Okuti (NRM)
Parliamentary election for Arua Municipality, 2006, this time won by  Hussein Akbar Godi (FDC)
Parliamentary election 2011 won by Eng. Gabriel Ajedra Aridu (NRM)
Parliamentary election 2016 won by late Ibrahim Abiriga (NRM)
Parliamentary by election after the death of Ibrahim Abiriga 2018, won by  Wadri Kassiano (Opposition).
Parliamentary election 2021 won by Jackson Atima (NRM).
Given this records the  2026 battle will be like England with good name  and  huge supporters up against Brazil that has won many trophies than England. it is going to be very interesting battle to follow  but the  downside of the battle is that it is not about improving the welfare of the voters, it is about personal aggrandizement, despite of what they say in the campaign, wanting to serve people, it is actually about serving themselves at the expense of the vulnerable voters.
The truth of the matter is that in  Uganda everyone who gets into the Parliment comes out of it well better and the people who voted him/her remain poorer. 
Now am ending  this write-up with imploring voters in Arua city to ask the aspirants with the following questions:
 -Whether she/he will be committed and respond to developmental issues as she/he responds during the campaigns? 
-Will she/he take matters that affect the  people of Arua city as seriously as she/he has been  taken  matters seriously during campaigns. 
-Will she/he be as attentive to the people of Arua city as during her/his campaign foot soldiers?
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