OPINION- Following the demise of iron lady Cecilia Ogwal, the woman Member of Parliament for Dokolo, the seat fell vacant attracting a by-election that, according with electoral laws is supposed to be held within 60 days
Preliminary reports show that, over 10 candidates have so far declared their interest to vie for the vacant slot- pending to be verified by the Electoral Commission upon completion of preparation for the exercise
Reminiscing the history of by-elections in Uganda, it’s explicit, that the ruling government will want to dance to the same tense at all cost, given the fact that Dokolo has been a “lost daughter”, that need to be found regardless of the ninety nine
However, if truly Mr. President meant what he said during his condolence message, the Dokolo seat should be left in the hands of the late Cicilia Ogwal’s daughter, Dr. Rosemary Alwoc Ogwal, or in other words, let the by-election be free and fair, as opposed to the icky track record, the recent being in Soroti
Conversely, it’s not and won’t be the first times we see children take up the leadership role upon the demise of their parents, so be it with Dokolo. And that, the issue of whether children (new legislatures) have always delivered upon occupation of office, is another area of debate that shouldn’t be raised to curtail Dr. Rosemary’s candidature, take a look at the list below;
Proscovia Alengot Oromait replaced her father, Michael Oromait, as a member of parliament (MP) for Usuk County, Katakwi District from 2011 to 2016. At age 19, she was the youngest Member of Parliament in Uganda, and on the African continent.
Further, kayanga Baroda Watongola, won a by-election to replace her fallen mother, Rehema Wetongola as Kamuli Municipality MP. She was in her final year at Kyambogo University when she won the election in early 2021.
Not only that, Fortunate Rose Nantongo replaced her mother, Robinah Nakasirye Ssentongo as woman MP for Kyotera district, Emmanuel Omoding replaced his late father Patrick Okabe and Florence Andiru Nebanda respectively replaced her late sister Serina Nebanda
And Shatsi Kuteesa replaced her father Sam Kuteesa as MP Mawogola County when the latter retired from the seat in 2020 and Andrew Ojok replaced his late dad Jacob Oulanyah
With such a trend, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander, it will be abhorrent, if the same flow of electoral malpractices continues to disorganize and terrorize the people of Dokolo. Let the people decide their fate in a peaceful democratic comportment, for once, let it be free and fair
The Author is Odeke Bazel, a researcher/ a political commentator/ a social worker – Pallisa district.
