You're cowards, Amuriat rails at Teso over 2021 snub

Former presidential aspirant and Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party president Patrick Amuriat has criticised his community, the people of Teso, for lacking courage during the 2021 presidential elections.

Amuriat claimed that during the 2021 elections, his community hid under their beds when faced with intimidation, failing to vote for him.

He drew a contrast between his community's behaviour and other communities.

Addressing a mammoth gathering in Mbale, Amuriat challenged the people of Bugisu to be brave and stand up for their own, Nathan Nandala Mafabi in the 2026 presidential elections.

“Don’t be like the people of Teso. When I contested last time, when the guns came pointing at them, when the military jets were overflying over Teso, the Teso people hid under their beds. They didn’t get to vote for their son,” Amuriat said.

He also urged FDC supporters in Bugisu to vote for more members of parliament on the FDC ticket to support the party president.

‘We come here again to appeal to you, Bamasaba, in the last election you gave us just two members of parliament. A president from the FDC needs support otherwise we shall have a weak president.”

Amuriat urged his supporters to ride on the failures of the NRM to fight corruption to ensure that they increased the number of MPs on the FDC ticket.

The two FDC MPs include Budadiri West MP Mafabi and Budadiri East’s Isiah Sasaga out of the 23 MPs in Bugisu sub-region.

The FDC president also pledged to visit Bugisu to engage with the community and build support for Mafabi.

“I will soon conduct a tour in Bugisu to establish that you people who are circumcised are actually circumcised,” he said.

There were 959,814 registered voters across 12 districts that make Teso sub-region, according to 2021 Electoral Commission Election results.

Amuriat polled 26 percent of the total vote cast, Museveni ran away with the inkpots for 60 percent vote, while Robert Kyagulanyi's celebrity status was not felt in the sub-region where he came home with just 0.9 percent.

Except Soroti City where he garnered 43 percent against 40 percent for Museveni, Amuriat lost everywhere else, including the ignominy of losing at his own polling station.

However, the FDC leader was treated to a heroic welcome in a recent visit to Sorori City in contrast to performance in the region in the 2021 polls.

Weighing in on the vote pattern and the 2026 drumrolls, Ngariam County MP (NRM) and Sports minister Peter Ogwang, said the Iteso know what they want in national affairs.

"We also appreciate our brother under his party to contest for president of Uganda if it was purposes of history he achieved that for being the first Iteso to contest for the presidency,” Ogwang said, adding that they were looking for the President of Uganda and not a tribemate.

“Honorable Amuriat was even defeated in his polling station from where he cast his vote and that shows you that the people of Teso knew and believed in the NRM and still believe in the leadership of President Museveni.”

Perspective

Political analyst and director Public Affairs Centre Uganda, Mr Benson Ekwa Ocen, attributed Amuriat’s poor performance in Teso in 2021 to multiple factors.

One significant aspect highlighted by Ekure is the concerted decampaigning efforts by prominent NRM figures within the region.

Minister Ogwang and NRM Eastern Vice Chairperson Mike Mukula, both influential local figures, portrayed Amuriat as a political novice.

These NRM bigwigs also promised substantial political appointments to supporters within the NRM, a strategy that resulted in key positions such as the vice presidency, Speaker of Parliament, deputy army commander, acting deputy governor, and the minister of foreign affairs being filled by individuals from the region.

“Originally, this is what made Amuriat lose that if you elect him you will lose ministerial positions but if you demonstrate that you are with NRM you will eat big in Cabinet and development,” he said.

However, at the time of 2021 vote, some of the cited positions such as Speaker and central bank deputy governor's seat were not filled by people from Teso.

Ekure also raised concerns about the integrity of the electoral process, citing extensive electoral manipulation.

He pointed out issues such as "massive" voter bribery, restricted media access, limited public meetings, vote rigging, and intimidation by security forces, management and transmission of election results.

These practices, according to Ekure, compromised the election's integrity and made it difficult to accurately assess Amuriat’s performance in the region.