The former parliamentary aspirants in Soroti City under the National Unity Platform- NUP have crossed to the National Resistance Movement- NRM party as the Soroti East by- elections hit up.
Led by Grace Asio, the former Soroti City Woman MP contestant in the 2021 general elections, the team was presented to NRM party national chairman who doubles as the President of the Republic of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni at Aminit Vocational Institute in Madera Ward.
Asio said that their decision to cross to the ruling party was informed by the NUP’s decision to back the FDC’s Moses Attan Okia for the Soroti East by- election without consulting the party members on the ground. Asio who came last with 596 votes in the Soroti City Woman MP race in 2021 general elections says she is demobilizing NUP for the NRM.
Asio was accompanied by the former Serere Woman MP candidate, Miriam Atim whom the Minister, Hellen Adoa trounced in the January 2021 general elections. Atim got only 637 votes. The other NUP former candidates who joined Asio are Deo Emojong from Tororo Municipality and General Opondo, who said he is a brother the Uganda Media Centre boss, Ofwono Opondo.
Museveni who is in Soroti to campaign for the NRM candidate, Herbert Edmund Ariko, ahead of polls slated for Thursday July 28,2022, welcomed the team. He said that as a party, every additional force into the fight matters.
The team was presented by the NRM Vice Chairman for Eastern Uganda, Capt. Mike Mukula to conclude the weeks-long mobilization and campaign trail for the NRM candidate. He said that the party has managed to convince opposition supporters to galvanize support for the NRM candidate.
George William Okoit, the Regional Coordinator for NUP in the Teso sub-region says the position was consultative and considerate for the good of opposition political fighters. He said that the NUP members joining the NRM camp are seeking personal gains.
