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By Dramadri Morish Arua City Thirty-six Local Council II (LC II) chairpersons in Arua City have emerged unopposed in the long-awaited elections held today, leaving 18 wards with contested races. The elections, which were largely peaceful, saw contests in three
By Dramadri Morish
Arua City
Thirty-six Local Council II (LC II) chairpersons in Arua City have emerged unopposed in the long-awaited elections held today, leaving 18 wards with contested races.
The elections, which were largely peaceful, saw contests in three wards—Mvara, Bazaar and Pangisa—in Arua Central Division, and 15 wards in Ayivu Division.
Most of the contested races pitted independent candidates against flag bearers of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM).
The LC II chairpersons are elected at the parish or ward level and play a key role in grassroots governance. Under Uganda’s Local Governments Act, the chairpersons convene and presides over parish or ward council meetings and provides political leadership at that level.
With the last local council I & II elections held in 2018, this elections are particularly significant as many LC I and LC II leaders had remained in office for years beyond the normal electoral cycle.
At Mvara Ward in Arua Central Division, independent candidate and first-time contestant Adia Bosco defeated NRM incumbent Naftali Taban in an election held at Arua Golf Ground.
Adia pledged to strengthen security and ensure the effective implementation of government programmes in the ward.
“We have been living a messy life; this is a new era. We want to strengthen the security of Mvara Ward, we are going to implement government programs and stand for our people and their values,” Adia pledged.
Meanwhile, Nezma Ocokoru, the former Local Council III chairperson for the then Arua Hill Division and a resident of Mvara Ward, said the new leadership should inspire young people, citing Adia’s track record and potential to influence youth in the ward.
“Governance to me starts from this level. The voters have decided that at this level we really need people who can render services to their people. The track record of this young man has been very good; I look at him as a change agent and I know his testimony alone is going to change the youth of Mvara,” Nezma said.
At Eleku Ward, the only contested LC II chairperson race in the former Manibe Sub-county, NRM candidate Anguzu Fred won with 68 votes, defeating independent candidate Aluti Bernard, who polled 16 votes.
Speaking to the media after his victory, Anguzu pledged to promote unity and ensure equitable access to Parish Development Model (PDM) funds across the ward.
“Be united and work together to develop our ward in a peaceful way. During my absence, people have been complaining that the Parish Development Model funds were not given equally. I am going to make sure that every cell benefits,” Anguzu committed.
By press time, the official declaration of results for all the contested LC II races across Arua City was still underway.
No major irregularities had been reported, with the elections generally proceeding peacefully across the city according to reports from Arua city election returning officer.