Africa-Press – Uganda. Tensions are escalating in Labwor County as five out of six nominated parliamentary candidates have threatened to withdraw from joint campaigns organized by the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM), accusing incumbent MP Jimbricky Norman Ochero of defying party directives and running parallel rallies.
In a strongly worded letter dated July 8, 2025, addressed to the NRM secretariat and Abim District leadership, the five aspirants allege that MP Ochero has deliberately distanced himself from the coordinated campaign strategy aimed at presenting a united party front ahead of the 2026 general elections.
“Out of the six duly nominated constituency MP candidates, five have continued to comply with the party’s election requirements on conducting joint campaigns,” the letter reads in part.
“Unfortunately, one of the candidates, the incumbent MP Jimbricky Norman Ochero, skipped the initial joint campaign events held on Thursday, July 3; Friday, July 4; and Saturday, July 5.
He only partially appeared on Sunday, July 6.”
The letter bears signatures from Dr. Ogola Nicholas, Dr. Patrick Ojok, Michael Ayepa, Paul Odong, and Francis Burton Okello—all contesting for the Labwor County seat on the NRM ticket.
They accuse Ochero of undermining party cohesion by holding separate rallies, despite repeated warnings from district and party officials.
“We formally notified the Abim NRM District Chairperson, and even after his intervention, the incumbent MP continued with his separate campaign itinerary. This defiance sets a dangerous precedent,” they stated.
The five candidates have now issued an ultimatum to the party leadership: either immediate steps are taken to restore discipline and enforce the joint campaign framework, or they will pull out of the joint program and conduct individual campaigns.
“We cannot be seen to be playing by the rules when one of us deliberately ignores them. If the status quo persists, we shall disband the joint campaigns and conduct our individual programs,” warned Dr. Patrick Ojok.
This internal rift threatens to fracture the NRM’s efforts to present a consolidated front in Labwor County and the wider Karamoja region, a key political battleground ahead of the 2026 polls.
When contacted for comment, MP Jimbricky Norman Ochero’s known phone numbers were unreachable by press time.
With the NRM primaries just a week away, the growing discord in Labwor County could weaken the party’s grassroots mobilization and offer opposition parties an opportunity to capitalize on the internal divisions.
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