Speaker of Parliament Anita Among was on Thursday evening declared unopposed for the Bukedea District Woman Member of Parliament (MP) seat — a development that opposition parties say was marked by intimidation, disappearances, and systematic obstruction of rivals.
The National Unity Platform (NUP) reported that its parliamentary candidate, Asio Florence, went missing just hours before her scheduled nomination on Wednesday.
According to NUP president Robert Kyagulanyi, alias Bobi Wine, Asio and several of her team members disappeared while travelling from Soroti to Bukedea.
“The whereabouts of our candidate for Bukedea Woman MP, Asio Florence, are unknown,” Kyagulanyi said in a statement. “Her phone and those of the comrades she was travelling with are all switched off. We’re in touch with their relatives who are desperately looking for them.”
NUP said that Mercy Marion Alupo, another party official who had been waiting for Asio’s arrival at the Electoral Commission (EC) offices in Bukedea, also went missing around the same time.
Allegations of threats and intimidation
According to Kyagulanyi, Asio had earlier raised concerns about being trailed and threatened by unidentified armed men who allegedly targeted her family. He accused Speaker Among of “using state institutions to eliminate political rivals” and said her unopposed declaration “symbolises the death of democracy.”
“After committing all these crimes, Anita Among is chest-thumping that she is unopposed,” Kyagulanyi stated.
A pattern of disqualifications and deletions
Among’s unopposed victory follows weeks of turmoil in Bukedea’s nomination process. Earlier this month, three women — Mercy Marion Alupo (NUP), Norma Susan Otai (FDC), and Akol Hellen Odeke (Independent) — were struck off the voters’ register by parish tribunals under what opposition parties described as dubious and politically influenced circumstances.
That move briefly left Among without challengers until NUP introduced Asio as its replacement candidate — only for her to disappear on the eve of nomination.
Speaking in an interview with NTV, Norma Susan Otai of FDC said she had earlier planned to get nominated on the opening day, just like Speaker Anita Among, but EC officials said that the machines had a fault and therefore could not nominate her. She was asked to return on Thursday.
“I have been at the offices since 11 a.m., but the security officers have blocked us from entering without giving any clear explanation,” she said.
The Electoral Commission later announced that no other candidate had submitted nomination papers for the Bukedea Woman MP seat, automatically declaring Anita Among unopposed.
The decision came just hours after reports of Asio’s disappearance surfaced. Neither the Electoral Commission nor the Police had issued an official statement on the missing candidate or the reported disruptions at the Bukedea nomination centre by press time.
