By KT Reporter
Over 100 boda boda leaders and members from Arua Central and Ayivu divisions in Arua City on Tuesday stormed the Mayor’s Gardens, demanding payment of UGX 234 million allegedly meant to facilitate National Resistance Movement (NRM) campaign mobilization during the recently concluded presidential and parliamentary elections. According to copies of documents obtained from the NRM secretariat, the money was released to Arua City NRM offices to support campaign mobilization activities.
The documents indicate that each of the 469 cells in Arua City was allocated UGX 500,000 for cell-to-cell mobilization, totaling UGX 234 million, which the boda boda leaders say was never released to them. The protesters, holding placards condemning corruption in the NRM city offices and the Office of the Resident City Commissioner (RCC), and carrying President Museveni’s campaign posters, chanted slogans demanding accountability.
They warned that failure to release the money would force them to lock the NRM city offices and the RCC’s office, accusing them of shielding corrupt officials. Efforts by police officers from Arua Central Police Station (CPS) to block the demonstration failed after engaging leaders of the group in a closed-door meeting for over three hours in a bid to persuade them to abandon the protest.
By 2:00 pm, the angry boda boda riders marched to the Mayor’s Gardens, where they issued statements before proceeding to the office of the Arua City Resident City Commissioner, Captain (Rtd) Betty Otekat Akello. Some of the protesters expressed anger over what they described as rampant corruption during the just-concluded NRM primaries and the general elections.
Rashid Nasur Yusuf Kube, the NRM Chairperson for Arua Central Division, said they worked tirelessly to ensure President Museveni and other NRM candidates won in the city, but are dismayed by the alleged mismanagement of funds released by the NRM secretariat.
Swadik Amaku, the Chairperson of the Arua Boda Boda City Association, said they will not keep quiet until the money meant for mobilization is released.
Dennis Droti Felix, the NRM Vice Chairperson of the Youth League in Arua City, said money meant for different categories of NRM mobilizers went missing and that all efforts to seek explanations had failed, forcing them to resort to protest.
Meanwhile, Samary Ijaga, the NRM Regional Coordinator for West Nile, who also joined the boda boda group, said they were promised facilitation to mobilize voters for the party but have not received any money to date.
However, after sensing danger and reportedly receiving a security briefing about the protest, the Arua City RCC, Captain (Rtd) Betty Otekat Akello, emerged from her office and drove off. Attempts by Pauline Ongom, the Assistant RCC for Ayivu Division, to calm the protesters instead escalated tensions, as the boda boda riders demanded an urgent meeting with the RCC and called for her to be held accountable for allegedly failing to act on their demands to have NRM officials in Arua City arrested.
Efforts to get a comment from Bakoko Bakoru, the Arua City NRM Chairperson, James Emvi, the Arua City NRM Administrative Secretary, and Tom Amagu, the NRM Registrar for Arua City, were unsuccessful, as their known phone contacts were switched off.
The protesters claim that the circulars from the NRM secretariat detailing the amounts released to Arua City were not disclosed to party members until some of them traveled to Kampala to obtain the documents, which exposed the alleged anomalies.
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