Story by Osuta Yusuf.
Arua City.
11-July-2025.
Throughout the campaigns of Arua City Woman MP Candidate Samanya Daphine Draza from Ayivu East Constituency to Ayivu West Constituency and to Arua Central Division, several elders have welcomed her manifesto to go and raise their challenge in Parliament, especially the Age discrepancy in benefiting from the elders’ grant called SAGE,
The Senior Citizens Grant (SAGE) is a program under the Social Assistance Grants for Empowerment (SAGE) which is a Government of Uganda initiative implemented by Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, where any elder from the age of 80 years and above gets a monthly payment of 25,000 Shs each to cater for some of their basic needs.
A teacher by profession, Samanya Daphine Draza has on Thursday 10-July-2025 at Oluko ward and in several other venues in Arua City, elucidated herself before the voters as the right Candidate who will be able to speak loudly without any fear or favor on the floor of Parliament over the unequal treatment of the elders in Arua City.
“Many of our elders are dying prematurely without reaching to the age of 80 and above because of poverty, hunger and sickness”, Samanya Daphine painfully lamented amidst cheers from the voters as she promised to stand firm in Parliament to raise the challenge for government to at least reduce the age from 80 to 70 so that most of the elders can be able to benefit.
While mentioning some Districts like Yumbe, and others where the elders are getting their SAGE money from the Age of 60, Samanya Daphine attributed the discrepancy affecting Arua City, to poor leadership.
Yulia Obideru, aged 70, welcomed the manifesto of Samanya Daphine to advocate for reduction of the age from 80 to 70, and she requested that it materializes so that she can become one of the beneficiaries of that government program.
An Elder in Ambeko Ward, Oluko, Ayivu East Constituency in Arua City, Mr Amati Francis, aged 78 years old, said that they, as Elders, have been neglected for so long without being fairly involved in such government programs.
“Most of us elders are dying because of poverty, hunger, and sicknesses, and we will be happy if our young Lady Daphine will be able to champion our voice”, he stated during an interview with our reporter on Thursday, 11 July 2025.
Amati attributed these to poor leadership, as he promised to vote for Samanya Daphine Draza for the Arua City Woman MP position.
On another note, Awuru Zilipa, a mother in Ambeko ward, was moved by one of Samanya Daphine's speeches to reign over money lenders who give women some amounts of money as loans, but they harass them while collecting it on daily basis with exorbitant interest rates.
“When I came here at the joint campaign venue to listen to speeches of the Candidates, I was deeply touched in the heart by what Daphine talked on going to take action against money lenders who harass women after giving them loans that are paid daily”, Awuru noted as she vowed to watch out on Samanya Daphine Draza after they vote her to fulfill her promise of dealing with errant money lenders that have made many families to break apart.
According to the records, three Candidates were duly nominated to participate and contest in the upcoming 17-7-2025 NRM Party primary elections for Parliamentary positions.
However, out of the three Candidates, it's only Samanya Daphine Draza and Sheila Princess Obia who are participating in the joint campaigns, as the incumbent Woman MP Hon Osoru Mourine is said to be conducting her campaigns individually, something weren't able to get a statement from her on why she chose individual campaign rather than the jointly one.
Stay tuned.
VOTE SHEILLAH
ReplyDeleteOnly SHEILLAH, the she-leopard and lawyer, truly understands the plight of the people of Arua city. As a lawyer and good Christian, SHEILLAH appreciates the legal implications of social disparities, not least the plight of the aged, of Arua. SHEILLAH, as a lawyer and social activist, is the best legislator and orator who can competently and audibly and convincingly legislate issues affecting Arua on the floor of parliament. Her competitors are both a timid and ineffective lot who are lacking in the confidence and daring that SHEILLAH is and has cultivated through the years of youth and people activism.
VOTE SHEILLAH and allow a FRESH START to ARUA CITY!!!