What was meant to be a triumphant return for Captain Mike Mukula has instead turned into a public relations nightmare, as residents of Soroti City express outrage over a failed Shs 120 million beautification project linked to the senior NRM official.
The ceremony, held under the banner “Celebrating the National Resistance Movement Party in Teso,” was originally organized to honor Mukula’s contributions and bolster his bid to retain the seat of NRM Vice Chairman for the Eastern Region. But for many in Soroti, there was little to celebrate.
Just a year ago, during the fanfare of the Ateker Reunion Festival, Mukula signed a contract with the Iteso Cultural Union, promising to revamp Soroti’s main street with ornamental flowers, decorative landscaping, and a vision of urban pride. But today, that vision lies in ruins.
The promised blooms have turned into barren patches of dirt. Stray cows and goats now roam freely, grazing where flowerbeds were once proudly unveiled.
The irony is not lost on residents, who watched with disbelief as herds of cattle, eerily symbolic of the failed project, paraded through the streets in the very hours Mukula was being welcomed back.
“These cows are not just animals now, They are a symbol of our betrayal,” lamented one boda boda rider. “We were promised beauty and pride, but got manure and mockery.”
According to sources close to the project, the Shs 120 million was meant to cover plant procurement, landscaping labor, irrigation systems, and maintenance. Yet, none of that is visible on the ground, Critics claim the project was never intended to last beyond the election photo ops.
Civil society groups and youth organizations are now demanding a full audit into the project, accusing Mukula of using cultural sentiment and public funds to score political points, only to vanish once the cameras were off.
“This was more than a flower project, it was a promise of transformation,” said Juliet Akurut, a youth leader in Soroti. “Now we see it was just another layer of deception. How can one man walk home like a hero when the evidence of failure follows him like a herd of cattle?”
In a scramble to save face ahead of the NRM celebrations, the Soroti City Council intervened, hastily replacing dead flowers with patches of grass. But the damage was already done, both to the city’s landscape and its faith in leadership.
Local vendors say they were told to “keep quiet” about the project’s collapse, but frustration has boiled over. “We cannot celebrate when millions are wasted and no one is held accountable,” said one vendor who requested anonymity.
Throughout the controversy, Captain Mike Mukula has remained notably silent. Despite being the centerpiece of the homecoming celebrations, he has not addressed the growing calls for transparency and accountability.
Many see this silence as an admission of guilt, or at the very least, indifference to the people’s concerns. With pressure mounting, activists are warning that unless action is taken, this scandal could have long-term implications for both Mukula’s political future and the NRM’s credibility in the region.
While music blared and banners flew in support of the NRM, a different kind of message was echoing through Soroti’s dusty streets, one of disillusionment and broken promises.
“Let Mukula take his flowers, or rather, the ashes of them,” a university student scoffed. “He gave us a desert and called it development.”
As the sun sets on today’s controversial homecoming, Soroti remains a city divided, not by politics, but by the widening gap between the people’s expectations and the reality of leadership, The flowers may be gone, but the thorns of betrayal remain sharp.