PINGIRE, SERERE — On a sweltering July afternoon, the dust had barely settled from the NRM primaries when murmurs began to spread across Pingire County in the eastern Serere District. At trading centers and under mango trees, in roadside kiosks and in the courtyards of village churches, one refrain kept returning: “We want Opolot.”
Fred Opolot, the incumbent MP, had just lost the July 17 NRM primary to Phillip Oucor. But to many here, the result did not feel like a defeat earned at the ballot box. Allegations of vote rigging, procedural irregularities, and outright malpractice quickly surfaced, and in their wake came an unusual groundswell of community defiance.
“We will not support the flag bearer,” said Moses Okiria. “He does not represent us. Opolot has shown us his work, schools, health, our youth. We know him. He is tested.”
Others were more blunt: “Oucor may have the party card,” one woman said, “but he does not have our trust.”
The July primaries, intended to cement party unity ahead of the 2026 general elections, instead deepened the fractures in Serere. Oucor was declared the winner, but his rivals, including Ojit Peter, immediately lodged formal complaints citing electoral malpractice.
The controversy reflects a larger pattern within Uganda’s dominant party, where internal contests are often marred by accusations of irregularity. In Pingire, however, the backlash has been unusually sharp because of Opolot’s reputation.
To his supporters, Opolot’s record is tangible, not abstract. In health, he delivered an ambulance to Pingire, coordinated the degazettement of land for upgrading Pingire Health Centre III, and organized eye camps where thousands were screened and hundreds received surgeries. During COVID-19, he distributed protective gear and mama kits across the constituency.
In education, his imprint is everywhere: iron sheets to roof classrooms, chain-link fencing for schools, land purchased for new institutions, and scholarships that have already carried dozens of students to university. “Four of us have graduated because of him,” said Sarah Akurut, one beneficiary. “Without that chance, I would be digging gardens now.”
The list runs long: boreholes for clean water, borehole repairs, market construction lobbying, support for women’s savings groups, sewing machines for tailoring associations, and agricultural skilling for youth. Churches and mosques have received iron sheets, cement, and financial support. Sports teams play with the equipment he provided.
But the dilemma is political. Uganda’s party system rarely rewards rebellion. Running as an independent carries risks: alienation from the ruling party, the weight of state machinery favoring the flag bearer, and the challenge of financing a campaign without party structures.
Yet, in Pingire, loyalty to the party and loyalty to Opolot are pulling in opposite directions. “We joined NRM because of leaders like him,” said a youth leader in the county. “If the party rejects him unfairly, then we must follow him, not the party.”
The implications stretch beyond Serere. If Opolot heeds the calls to run as an independent, Pingire could become a test case of whether communities can prioritize local performance over party loyalty. It could also expose the fragility of NRM’s dominance in areas where discontent simmers beneath the surface of primaries.
For now, Opolot has not declared his next move. But his supporters remain insistent. “We have seen his work,” a trader said.
The Road to 2026
As the 2026 elections draw closer, Pingire finds itself caught between disillusionment and determination. The primaries may have ended with a declaration, but the people’s verdict is still unfolding in the conversations in homes, markets, and fields.
In the words of one elder, shaking his head as he listed Opolot’s contributions: “Politics is not only about colors of parties. It is about who stands with the people. And we know who has stood with us.”
