Service Delivery Key to My Re-election – Dr. Opio Kole Noth

The Chairperson of Parliament’s Committee on Health, Dr. Samuel Opio Kole Noth, has attributed his re-election to a strong focus on service delivery and effective oversight, noting a significant shift in voter expectations from one election cycle to another.

Speaking after his victory, Dr. Opio observed that while previous elections placed heavy emphasis on a legislator’s performance in Parliament—such as debating and contributing to legislation—the most recent polls showed that voters were more concerned about tangible impact at community level.

“In this current election, the key priority issue everyone was looking at was service delivery,” Dr. Opio said. “Whereas before, much attention was on how often one speaks on the floor of Parliament, voters are now asking how much you have influenced what is happening on the ground.”
He explained that although legislation remains an important function of Parliament, citizens increasingly judge their representatives based on how effectively they carry out their oversight and representation roles.
“Our role is representation and oversight, to ensure that the budget approved by Parliament reaches the people,” he noted. “If your oversight role is weak, even when your legislative work is strong, you will still face serious challenges with voters.”

Dr. Opio said communities are now demanding practical solutions to everyday challenges, including accessible roads, safe swamp crossings, functional health facilities, and reliable infrastructure to support trade and education.
“At the end of the day, people ask: can my child reach school? Can my produce reach the market? Can I access a health facility when I need one?” he said.
Reflecting on his tenure, Dr. Opio emphasized that he deliberately invested much of his time in constituency-level oversight. He revealed that he regularly visited his constituency, meeting voters and monitoring government-funded projects beyond his committee responsibilities.

“Every two weeks, I have been on the ground, engaging the electorate and following up on service delivery,” he said. “I worked closely with district roads committees to ensure that funds—such as the one billion shillings for roads, Primary Health Care funds, and PDM resources—were used for their intended purposes.”

According to Dr. Opio, this hands-on approach enabled voters to directly see the impact of his leadership.

“They could identify roads where I intervened to ensure works were done, health facilities where construction funds were secured, and power lines where their Member of Parliament played a role,” he said.
He added that this visible impact ultimately influenced voters’ decisions at the ballot, underscoring the growing importance of accountability and service delivery in Uganda’s electoral politics.