West Nile Must Pass a Message of Disappointment to Museveni’s Gov’t Through 2026 Election, Says Fungaroo
Fungaroo stresses a point during the press conference on Tuesday. Photo Credit Andrew Cohen Amvesi
ARUA. The former Obongi County Member of Parliament (MP), Hassan Kaps Fungaroo, has encouraged the people of West Nile to turn up and vote against the ruling government in the 2026 general elections.
Fungaroo who doubles as the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party Vice President for Northern Uganda, said by voting against President Yoweri Museveni in 2026, the people of West Nile would have passed a message of disappointment to the National Resistance Movement (NRM) government.
“The 2026 elections should be a moment of voting to give a message, giving a message of disappointment to the government of President Museveni. The people of West Nile should give a message that we should not be taken for granted, the people of West Nile should give a message that we are serious people,” Fungaroo said while conveying his Martyrs Day and Eid-al- Adha message during a press conference held in Arua City on Tuesday, June 3, 2025.
According to Fungaroo, every district in the West Nile region should have at least one person elected as an MP from the opposition.
“Places like Arua city which is the city of West Nile people’s consciousness; the socio-economic and political center of thought and action should have the voice of the opposition. So, we should have more people on the side of the opposition from Arua City. Every big district like for example Yumbe, we should have at least half of the people elected there on the political party ticket of the opposition so that the government will take us seriously,” Fungaroo emphasized.
“We people of West Nile should think about this whether you are from the side of the NRM or the opposition, first of all, we should think about giving a voice to the people of West Nile. For those of you who are on the side of the ruling party, if you have a very strong opposition in your area, the government will also want to take you seriously; government will want to listen to you, government will want to give you assignments to go and control the situation on the ground,” Fungaroo added.
He said this is the time such NRM leaders would outline development priorities for the people of West Nile and then draw the attention of the government to address those issues.
“So, all of us as people of West Nile must have a strategy of voting to give a message to the government and to the development partners that for us as the people of West Nile, we have a common understanding, and we have a common position. We are disappointed with the way the government has taken us for granted.
There are things we have waited for all these 40 years and they have not happened, for example, the issue of the electricity has been a problem. Recently, they tried to connect the West Nile to the national grid but the West Nile coverage of electricity is not yet complete, the electricity is unstable and it is not adequate enough to run industries here,” Fungaroo stated.
He noted that the issue of making Arua Airfield as an International Airport has dragged on yet Arua Airport would have been very busy for business; connecting the region of DR Congo, Uganda, South Sudan and the Central African Republic to the international market.
“For how long are we going to wait?” Fungaroo asked, adding that Arua should have also had a national referral hospital, not just regional.
“This hospital here of Arua was a regional referral hospital in the past but now the population of West Nile is going to 4 million people. For that reason, West Nile is supposed to have three regional referral hospitals in Nebbi, Yumbe and Moyo plus a national referral hospital in Arua. Besides, each district is supposed to have a district hospital which is not the case in most of the districts in West Nile,” Fungaroo remarked.
The acting FDC party President stressed that West Nile equally needs three major tarmacked roads which the government has not yet constructed.
Fungaroo observed that one of the tarmacked roads was supposed to begin from Panyimur through Paidha to Vurra passing along the border line up to Koboko-Oraba through Yumbe to Moyo along the border.
“Again, the second road starts from Panyimur to Pakwach to Rhino Camp, Rigbo-Ewanga-Obongi- Dufile to Nimule and it will join the other road coming from Atiak to Adjumani and to Moyo. Then there is this road from Arua here through Terego to Yumbe then up to Obongi. These are the regional roads for West Nile. So, West Nile people must have a position, they must defend this position in this coming election. We must vote to give a message of disappointment to Museveni’s government,” Fungaro said.
“So, all of us as people of West Nile must have a strategy of voting to give a message to the government and to the development partners that for us as the people of West Nile, we have a common understanding, and we have a common position. We are disappointed with the way the government has taken us for granted.”
I remember attending a meeting in Gulu, Boma hotel in 2020 which was organised by the sons and daughters regardless of political or religious affiliation from the Acholi subregion. What they discussed is exactly what Fungaroo is saying (quoted above). And when you go to the Acholi subregion you clearly see the Fruits of such a united stand. Why don’t we as West Nilers give a push to what Fungaroo is saying? There is truth in it.
West Nile has been connected to the national electricity grid through the commissioning of new transmission lines (e.g., Kole-Gulu-Nebbi-Arua Transmission line). This has been a game-changer for the region, enabling the growth of industries, improving healthcare facilities and educational institutions, and attracting investors.