Arua City is Here to Stay, Ayivu Elders Tell District Agitators
Aderibo speaking shortly after the foiled demonstration at Onduparaka on Monday. Photo Credit Andrew Cohen Amvesi
ARUA. A section of elders in Ayivu Division have come out publicly to assure the nation that they are in support of Arua City.
The elders who gathered at Ayivu Division Headquarters in Onduparaka on Monday, May 19, 2025, said those agitating for a district status are simply wasting their time since they were also part of the stakeholders consulted over the creation of Arua City.
The elders made the assurance following reports that some locals under the Save Ayivu Initiative (SAI) were on Sunday night ferried in buses to Kampala to demand for Ayivu district.
The contested district is supposed to be curved out of Arua City, which comprises Arua Central and Ayivu Divisions.
Earlier on, Levi Adroa, the chairman of SAI said: “We would like the government to consider Ayivu which formerly had seven sub counties to be allocated a district because we have lost the services which we used to have when we were in the district.
We now have a lot of challenges because the city comes with its regulations and rules as per the standards. Of course, the majority of the people in Ayivu are peasant farmers and they are uneducated and their only asset is their land which according to the city regulations, they don’t have the right over the land as people who live in sub counties have.”
But Edward Aderibo Eyobe, an elder refuted Levi’s claim, saying for the years they have so far lived in Arua City, nobody has taken away their land.
“We have lived in this city for more than five years now and there is nothing like the city has taken away our land. Those who were deceiving us that the creation of Arua City is a bad thing are liars. So, we want our city to stay,” Aderibo said.
This was shortly after the elders cancelled their planned peaceful demonstration to the office of the Resident City Commissioner (RCC) in support of the creation of Arua City.
Aderibo instead used the opportunity to encourage the people of Ayivu to send their children to school so that they can come back and work in the city.
“We need a city and we are already in the city, we can’t refuse our city. We want development and we accept that this city will bring for us development, so we are after development. For now, we want more Divisions to be created out of Ayivu as administrative units to create more jobs and bring services closer to the people instead of agitating for a district status which is going to take us backwards,” Isaac Atiku, another elder said.
Veronica Eyotaru, the female councilor for older persons in Ayivu Division, noted that as councilors, they are already planning to have more Divisions created in Arua city as opposed to a district.
“What I want to tell people is that once you have delivered, the baby you have pushed can’t go back to your womb. So, we are already in the city, we are not going to dismantle this city at all. Arua city should remain as a city and we are going to produce more four Divisions in Ayivu. We are totally opposed to the creation of Ayivu district, we want the city to remain,” Eyotaru emphasized.
Stephen Embati, a representative of the religious leaders, observed that they were witnesses to the creation of Arua city which began a long time ago in consultation with all members of the public both in Ayivu and elsewhere.
“But now we are surprised by a small section of only an association (SAI) coming from the western side of Ayivu that they are demanding for a district again. Arua district existed and was phased off from Arua city five years ago, so we can’t look back. We are now pressing for unity in this city and there is no way somebody will come from nowhere to claim that the city can be taken back, it is an embarrassment for us in West Nile,” Embati said.
Meanwhile Rona Maturu said during the creation of Arua city, people were lied to that they will bury their loved ones in Riki or a place called Mango Saba but five years down the road, nothing of that kind has happened.
She said this time round, it will be so hard for SAI members and the Ayivu West MP, John Lematia to convince the locals that the creation of the city is a bad thing.
“MP Lematia had promised to the people that once he goes to Parliament, he will push for the creation of Ayivu district out of the city which he has failed to do for all these years he has been in Parliament. Now that he has nothing to account to the people about the promise, he has started his political games again which we shall not accept this time round,” Maturu vowed.
Alex Matua, 60, appealed to President Museveni to maintain Arua city, saying during the declaration of the city, the matter was gazetted in Uganda Gazette for three months and nobody came up to oppose its creation.
But in his remarks, Godfrey Jonah Mbigiti, the Arua Deputy RCC in charge of Ayivu Division, thanked the pro-Arua City locals of Ayivu for calling off the intended demonstration.
“I was wondering why you would demonstrate when you already have the city. Already the city is with you, so I didn’t find any reason why you would demonstrate. We know that our brothers and sisters who are saying they want Ayivu district are there (in Kampala), let them go through the proper channel,” Mbigiti guided.
Mbigiti appealed to the locals to continue being calm and good people, adding that the President is already aware and that he will handle the matter of Arua City without fail.