Incumbent Terego County MP Kassiano Wadri addresses supporters in Terego recently. Inset, Moses Angundru, the NRM parliamentary flag bearer for Terego West County. PHOTOS BY CLEMENT ALUMA & FELIX WAROM OKELLO
By FELIX WAROM OKELLO & CLEMENT ALUMA
Posted
Friday, January 29
2016 at
23:00
In Summary
Guarding the territory. A two-time winner in Terego County, incumbent MP Kasiano Wadri will have to consolidate his support to remain king in the newly created Terego West County.
ARUA. Politics rarely lends itself to repeat performances but for one man in West Nile sub-region, the 2016 election may see him take yet another bite out of the mango.
Since 2006, Kassiano Wadri has been unrelenting in his determination to represent Terego. He has remained MP ever since he surprised many people by unseating NRM bigwig Obiga Kania.
Now Terego has been divided in two constituencies – Terego West and East. This split will give the neutral observer an opportunity to find out whether the voters in Terego West stick by their man or choose to experiment with a new face.
The other interesting question usually asked in the post-election is why, who won and what the results mean. These questions are not always easily answered in Terego.
Beyond the usual demands for public goods such as roads, safe water, and health facilities, which occupy people at election time, in Terego sometimes it comes down to a battle of wills.
The strongman
Wadri has been resolute in his grip on the mantle for the Forum for Democratic Change party. He is a charismatic leader, has built up formidable electoral machinery that easily outguns the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party and enjoys a good rapport with the electorate and religious institutions.
It has also helped that his articulation of public policy issues cannot be faulted in much the same way he has been a loud voice in the evaluation of government performance.
The voting pattern in this political season has changed with Wadri’s perennial challenger, Mario Obiga Kania (NRM), now running in Terego East. Kania had lost all political contests with Wadri since 2001 and it is suspected in some quarters that the constituency was split so as to help him, and the ruling party gain a foothold in this sub-region.
And so this time, Wadri faces Moses Angundru (NRM), Elia Aliti (Independent) and Sam Egama (Independent). Aliti is running for the second time.
“I want to champion the lobby for motivation of teachers in terms of provision of transport means like motorcycles to check on the long distance, which has been causing late reporting,” Aliti says.
He hopes that addressing such a pressing social issue with the same level of seriousness that is being paid to the crisis of youth unemployment could decide whether 2016 will be the year in which “the elephant” of Terego will be unseated this time.”
Wadri has the potential to remain in office with the support of his party, and block votes, which allowed him win the people’s mandate over these past three terms. His only worry may be the amount of money being splashed about by persons suspected to allies of the NRM candidate.
The candidates should be aware that voters in this constituency take their party affiliation seriously. Not many voters change their party identification from one election to the next, which makes it that much more difficult for challengers.
The boundary
An experienced politician, Wadri is careful not to promise heaven and earth for his people as he clearly recognises the boundaries of an MP.
“My role is not to construct roads and bridges; bring water or construct schools. I am there to effectively represent the people. But if a road in my constituency is to be tarmacked, they will look at the viability and economic opportunities that emerge there like the Vurra-Arua-Koboko road under construction is because of huge economic opportunities in South Sudan.
“I have bursary schemes for bright and needy students; I do fundraising in schools, churches, mosques and these may not be my roles. But I feel supporting developmental activities is not bad for a politician,” he told Saturday Monitor.
Determinants
Over time, elections in Terego have also come to be defined by such social and demographic factors like class or economic status, religion and age. The effect is particularly evident amongst younger voters who generally tend to support the Opposition.
Whoever is lucky enough to be the person Wadri says he is grooming to take over from his can probably expect to benefit from his legacy in Terego constituency.
The ruling party’s candidate, Angundru is banking his chances on the claim that because the people here have spent the years rallying behind the Opposition, Terego has benefited as much as neighbouring Maracha, Yumbe and Koboko, which have got relatively better roads and health centres. This may be an unfair line to take since once a party is elected into government, it should not extend services only to those areas where it won elections but Mr Angundru is adamant.
“So, what should stop us the people of Terego from gaining district status if we voted the ruling party? We have lagged behind because of having an Opposition MP,” he said. “If people believe in my and NRM manifesto, then there will be change. But the challenge is that there are cases of violence orchestrated by some youths that is disrupting the campaigns.”
Three weeks ago, a group of youths smashed the windscreen of Mr Angundru’s car. He reported the case to police.
There were also clashes between supporters of Wadri and Angundru, which left a number of people injured. Police has invited candidates to a dialogue in Arua Town where it is expected that would be urged to ensure that their supporters behave in a proper manner.
In rural areas, where a huge percentage of the voters live and provide the backbone of FDC support, there is growing anger over the correlation being made between the poor roads and the fact that the incumbent MP is an Opposition leader.
Some of the roads linking to markets are in a sorry state with collapsing bridges such as Cilio on River Enyau. How the candidates channel that anger into support remains to be seen.
In 2006, Wadri won with 27,664 votes against Kania’s 12,984. Little known Buzu Adroa came a distant third with 1,318 votes.
The winning and losing trend continued in 2011 with Peter Kamure (Independent.) garnering 2,009 votes, Harold Acemah (Uganda Peoples Congress) 513, Kania 20,507 and Wadri with 23,863 votes.
So what are the people saying this time?
A youth in Katrini trading centre, Gloria Adaku, said: “I can only hope that in the coming months, more legislation is proposed to benefit student welfare. There is no clear winner at this point, but we can only get this through an MP who can table the issue.”
Here, people believe in the appropriateness of all of the roles of their leader, but by far the heaviest weight is placed on listening and representing. If MPs do not listen to constituents’ voices, they risk losing their mandate to represent voters, and may not be re-elected to office.
“I need a leader who should ensure that they regularly explain how government spends the taxpayers’ money,” Josephine Wadiko, a voter, said.
The outside candidate in this election, Sam Egama [Independent], says: “The people of Terego have interest in me because they have seen my track record. I will put the county back on the map through sports and make NRM as a party for the people but not as it has been personalised today.”
It is up to Egama to back up his claim with performance on February 18, the day on which Wadri will find out whether his three-term record has been good enough to warrant his re-election.
Facts about some of the candidates
Kassiano Wadri Ezati, FDC. Born on September 29, 1957, in Aii-vu Sub-county, Terego County in Arua District. Wadri holds a Master’s in Social Sector Planning and Management, Makerere (2001); PGD Public Administration, UMI/Makerere (1993); BA (Social Work and Social Administration), Makerere (1981); Associate degree, Democracy and Social Development, at Uganda Martyrs University Nkozi (2003). He has served as Opposition Chief Whip and chairman of the powerful Public Accounts Committee of Parliament.
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