MP Atima Declares Bid To Retain Arua Central Division Parliamentary Seat
Atima Jackson Lee Buti, the Arua Central Division MP who has declared intention to retain his seat Photo Credit Andrew Cohen Amvesi
ARUA. Jackson Atima Lee Buti, the Arua Central Division Member of Parliament (MP) in Arua City, has declared bid to retain his seat come 2026 general elections.
Atima made the declaration for his come-back while addressing journalists at Hill Top Hotel in Arua City on Tuesday, May 27, 2025.
“I’m here to declare my interest in contesting as Arua Central Division MP for the second term 2026-2031. So, I urge all my supporters, all my mobilizers, even those who have not been in my camp to join me because of my remarkable achievements. The milestones I have taken should directly touch your heart to join Atima camp,” Atima said.
“So, I urge everybody in Arua Central Division to come in big numbers to give me support so that I can continue leading you the way you have seen. I’m a leader for all the people without considering identity. I lead cosmopolitan people in a cosmopolitan city, I do politics for everyone that is why people prefer calling me ‘Oya Suru Ku, Oya Dini Ku,’ meaning I don’t segregate my people based on tribal, religious or political affiliation,” Atima added.
Atima noted that the establishment of Arua city as a regional city is to cater for people of diverse origins, a reason he embraces and serves everybody living within the city equally.
“We have different tribes living in Arua city; we have people from Central Uganda here, we have people from Western Uganda living here, we have people from Eastern Uganda here, we have people from Northern Uganda here, we have people from South Sudan and DRC here, we have Kenyans here, we have Indians here and we have Whites here. A cosmopolitan city attracts everybody, so I want all the leaders of this city to emulate my example and have politics of ideas, politics of service other than politics of identity,” Atima advised.
Atima observed that the Arua Central Division he leads consists of 70 percent Muslim community and has different tribes but the people have continued to support him because he offers his leadership to all of them without discrimination.
“I will not know whether this is a Muganda, whether this is a Kenyan, whether this is an Alur, whether this is an Aringa, but I look at everybody in the city as one people in the eyes of God. So, I encourage this to all the leaders so that Arua city takes the picture and image of handling things in a very diverse way rather than having it with identity tendencies.
As a leader that God has ordained to love everybody, I will continue to offer this in Central Division and I urge my colleagues in other parts of the city to do the same so that everybody who comes to this city can feel at home, can enjoy the city just like we have the capital city of this country in Kampala and we are welcomed by the Baganda,” Atima emphasized.
According to Atima, the Baganda have welcomed every tribe to Kampala and that they are living in a harmonious way.
He said should the politics of identity be in Kampala; they wouldn’t have settled in Kampala by building houses there.
“The Baganda would say this is our land but they have welcomed us. The Baganda have welcomed every tribe, we are living in a very harmonious way in Kampala. All the regions, all the nationals are living in Kampala. So, I want my people of Arua city and the West Nile region to do the same, this being a regional city for everybody,” Atima stressed.