Hundreds of voters in Serere walked kilometers on Monday to join the National Unity Platform-NUP party president, Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu as he campaigned for Alice Alaso, the Alliance for National Transformation-ANT candidate in Serere county.

Kyagulanyi arrived in Serere town on Monday evening for the last rally in Serere town that attracted the youthful voters who have been longing to see and interact with the music artist now turned politician.

When he took to the podium, Kyagulanyi told the excited voters that they have a chance to redefine Serere and save the region from high levels of poverty and marginalization by voting for Alaso whom he notes would be able to legislate for better policies to transform the area and the country.

Most of the people in Serere derive their livelihoods from fishing and growing crops. But the district has recently deteriorated in terms of household income due to restrictions in Lake Kyoga and harsh climatic conditions that have affected food production.

Earlier on, Alaso and her coalition put the Electoral Commission and the police under the spotlight over security concerns including the alleged intimidation of voters and her campaign team, the use of government machinery, and heavy deployment in Serere ahead of the polls on Thursday.

However, when contacted, the Serere District Registrar, Sylvia Cheptegei said that she had not received any complaint from candidates or any of their official agents regarding the alleged security situation during campaigns.

The Serere parliamentary by-election has attracted five candidates including the son of the late MP, Patrick Okabe who is contesting as an independent, NRM’s Phillip Oucor, FDC’s Emmanuel Eratu, and Eng. Martin Onguruco, another independent. The by-election follows the death of Okabe in an accident in December last year.