Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The National Solidarity Platform (NUP) has officially cleared Mercy Alupo to contest for the Bukedea Lady Member of Parliament seat in the 2026 general elections. Alupo used to be nominated on the NUP headquarters in Kampala following just a few engagements with the catch collectively’s high leadership.
NUP’s Electoral Price Technical Advisor, Alex Byanyanga Rovans, confirmed the decision, announcing the catch collectively had conducted a rigorous vetting job sooner than selecting Alupo as its flag bearer. “We’re entirely mindful of the tactics being old by the Speaker of Parliament to proper an unopposed return. But we hold laid out programs to make certain Alupo is duly nominated by the Electoral Price. The other folks of Bukedea will opt on the ballot,” Byanyanga talked about.
Alupo, talking quickly after her nomination, talked about Bukedea deserves a democratic election, no longer a repeat of what she termed the “2021 saga,” the assign the electorate used to be denied a impartial appropriate contest. “Bukedea isn’t any longer a monarchy. Our other folks must no longer be deprived of their factual to vote by contributors pushing selfish agendas,” Alupo talked about. She highlighted what she called a breakdown in key public products and companies in the district, citing growing insecurity, unhappy roads, inadequate healthcare, and deteriorating education requirements.
“If given the mandate, my high precedence may maybe be to revive safety in Bukedea. We’ve misplaced lives to armed criminals, along with a mobile money agent who used to be lately shot dreary. But we catch no longer hold any solutions from safety agencies,” she talked about. Alupo also raised alarm over rampant cattle theft and the unchecked presence of illegal firearms, accusing safety forces of silence and advise of being inactive.
“The change neighborhood resides in apprehension. Every person is a goal. The other folks of Bukedea need a issue and a sprint-setter who will talk about out and quiz action,” she added. She extra criticized the dearth of formative years illustration, attributing rising teenage pregnancies and unemployment to government neglect.
“No one is standing up for the formative years. That’s why we leer these alarming traits in early pregnancies and hopelessness. These are the factors I intend to tackle,” Alupo talked about.
The Bukedea Lady MP seat is for the time being held by Speaker of Parliament Annet Anita Among, who used to be controversially declared unopposed in the ideal election. Among has publicly wondered whether or no longer any challenger can bring meaningful change.
“Who is it that thinks she can change Bukedea? What’s going to you bring that is easy? Is it rain that I’ve been telling other folks about?” she asked all the arrangement in which thru a latest engagement with constituents. In the period in-between, in the NRM camp, confusion persists. In June 2025, the catch collectively’s electoral commission chairman, Dr. Tanga Odoi, nullified the aspirations of Helen Odeke Akol because she would no longer reside in Kokonyele Village, Malera Sub-county—her husband’s registered location.
Akol, then as soon as more, disputes this grunt, announcing her title used to be unlawfully removed from the NRM register in 2021 however later reinstated. “I peaceable nomination kinds from the catch collectively after my title used to be cleared. I even hold since petitioned President Museveni, and I’m ready on his directive,” Akol explained. With political temperatures rising in Bukedea, the competition for the district’s Lady MP seat is shaping up as a excessive-stakes battle between opposition contenders, NRM loyalists, and the formidable incumbent, Speaker Anita Among.
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