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The opposition National Unity Platform (NUP) candidate, Florence Asio, who was set to challenge Speaker of Parliament Anita Among for the Bukedea District Woman MP seat, is reportedly battling trauma following what the party describes as an abduction that forced her out of the race.
Asio went missing just hours before her scheduled nomination on Wednesday, alongside several of her campaign team members. According to NUP officials, her disappearance effectively ended her hopes of being nominated, paving the way for Speaker Among to be declared unopposed.
NUP Secretary General Lewis Rubongoya confirmed that Asio has since resurfaced but is still in poor psychological condition and unable to travel to Kampala for a debrief meeting with party leadership.
“It is unfortunate that I am informing you that I may not be able to come to office as you had earlier requested. I am still undergoing trauma; I am still collecting myself,” Asio said tearfully in a phone call with Rubongoya.
“Kindly give me time to rest and recollect myself. When I am ready, I will communicate and come over to the office so we can discuss.”
Rubongoya further revealed that two members of Asio’s campaign team—who were also NUP candidates for other positions—remain missing, and their phones are switched off.
“This is deeply worrying. We are demanding that the state explains the whereabouts of our missing candidates and ensures their safety,” Rubongoya told reporters.
The incident has reignited concerns over election-related intimidation and violence in Bukedea District, an area that has previously been marred by controversy.
In 2023, President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni expressed outrage in a letter about the violence that surrounded the Bukedea LC5 by-election, calling the incidents “like a film.”
“Government officials on the night of the nomination invaded the house of Mr. Omagor (one of the candidates), confiscated his academic papers and stole Shs163 million from him so that he could not be nominated the following morning,” Museveni wrote.
“Even then, when he went for nomination, he was attacked at the gate of the Electoral Commission. Come election morning, Government officials invaded the polling stations and voted on behalf of voters. This sounds like a film.”
The President added that such acts not only undermine democracy but also constitute criminal offenses.
As of press time, security authorities had not issued an official statement regarding Asio’s disappearance or the ongoing search for her missing colleagues.
Human rights activists and political observers have since called for independent investigations into the incident, saying such occurrences threaten the credibility of Uganda’s electoral processes.
