By Stanley Ebele
National Resistance Movement (NRM) party youth leaders in Karamoja Sub-region have endorsed former Miss Tourism Uganda 2017, Elma Challa Kapel, for the Northern Region Youth Member Of Parliament ahead of the party primaries.
Kapel 27, is the daughter of Esther Davinia Anyakun, Minister of State for Gender, Labour and Social Development in charge of Labour, Employment and Industrial Relations, who is also the Woman MP for Nakapiripirit district.
Her endorsement was made over the weekend during a meeting held at Caritus Multipurpose hall in Kotido municipality.
The meeting brought together close to1000 NRM party sub-county and district youth leaders from the districts of Abim, Karenga, Kaabong, Kotido, Napak, Nabilatuk, Nakapiripirit, Amudat, and Moroto.
Kapel’s endorsement was led by the Kotido district Youth League Chairperson, Oliver Bena Koriang, positioning her as a favorite candidate to win the forthcoming NRM primaries.
The delegates pledged their total support for Challa describing her as the most relatable and agenda-driven candidate, who embodies the qualities of a good leader.
Koriang argued that that this was the time for Karamoja youth to unite and elect a “daughter of the soil” who deeply understands the region’s unique challenges.
“We need someone in Parliament who will fight tirelessly for a better Youth Policy, one that truly empowers us to reach our full potential”, Koriang said.
She added that for too long, the region’s youth have been marginalized and poorly represented by past officeholders.
Patricia Nalumas, the NRM Youth Vice Chairperson for Moroto, stated that Karamoja urgently needs a leader who is conversant the specific challenges faced by the region’s youth.
Another youth leader from Kotido district, Peter Akodiam, highlighted unemployment, poverty, and corruption in youth-focused government programs as key challenges the youth in Karamoja are faced with.
“We are much challenged with high levels of unemployment whereby over 64 percent of the youth under 30 years of age are unemployed,” Akodiam said.
He also raised concerns about the alarming poverty rates nationwide, attributing the issue partly to the low representation of youth in decision-making processes.
In her maiden speech, Kapel applauded the youth leaders for supporting her candidacy for Northern Region Youth Member of Parliament, noting that her journey from beauty queen to politician has been a natural progression.
She pledged to drive tangible change through action-driven leadership once given the mandate.
According to Kapel, with her robust international and local networks, she is “well-positioned to bridge gaps and create valuable opportunities for the youth across Northern Uganda.”
NRM Roadmap for Youth MP Primaries
According to the official NRM Electoral Commission, internal party primaries for Special Interest Groups (SIGs), including Youth MPs, are scheduled to begin with district-level vetting and regional consultations, and the final delegate elections will where the party flag bearers for Youth MPs will be on August 22, 2025.
Only candidates endorsed by party structures and cleared by the NRM EC are allowed to stand in the final party primaries. These results will feed into the broader National Youth Council (NYC) election cycle.
Electoral Commission Roadmap 2025 for National Youth Council Elections
As per the Electoral Commission roadmap, the National Youth Council elections will take place between October and November 2025.
These elections will produce the Electoral College responsible for voting five Youth MPs in Parliament, one for each region and one national female representative.
The Electoral College comprises: district youth conference delegates, five county youth executives, and two sub-county delegates (male and female) per district.
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