The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The former Serere County MP, Capt. John Emily Otekat has joined the race to represent the elderly persons of Eastern Uganda.
Otekat, who served in the 8th Parliament was among the few MPs in Teso to win the 2006 Parliamentary elections on the NRM ticket. He lost the seat to FDC’s Stephen Ochola in 2011 and has since been appointed the board chairperson of Uganda Air Cargo Corporation (UACC) and senior presidential advisor on wildlife.
Otekat also served as Soroti LCV chairperson before joining parliament. He is popularly known as Vuvuzela in Teso after beating up teachers in Serere found drinking alcohol during working hours.
He picked forms from the NRM party headquarters in a bid to represent the elderly in the region. Otekat says his mission if elected will be to advocate for health insurance for the elderly persons.
Otekat is among the three persons from Teso sub region who have expressed interest to represent the elderly from Eastern Uganda in Parliament. The others are a retired accountant from the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, George Olupot Ewalu and Florence Among, the vice-chairperson National Network for Older Persons Organizations of Uganda (NNOPU).
Both Otekat and Olupot have picked nomination forms from NRM party and will be joining other aspirants to battle for the party flag while Among is an independent candidate.
Ewalu says that he will represent the views of the elderly. He explains that the elderly need a home where they can be taken care of.
Parliament recently created five more slots to cater for the elderly under the Special Interest Groups- SIGs in Parliament.
Central, Eastern, Northern and Western regions will each have a representative elected by the Elders’ Council constituting all the districts in a particular region, while the National Female MP for the elderly will be elected by the National Elders’ Council constituting delegates from all the regions.
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