A 28-year-old mother of four, identified as Rose Ajiko, has died after being trampled during a chaotic scramble for yellow T-shirts bearing President Yoweri Museveni’s emblem in Asuroi village, Kamuda Parish, Soroti County.
The tragic incident occurred on the evening of Saturday, January 10, 2026, at Aminit Primary School, where Patrick Aeku, the incumbent Member of Parliament and NRM flag bearer for the Soroti County parliamentary seat, was holding a campaign rally.
Ajiko leaves behind her husband, Francis Olanya, and four children, the youngest of whom is just two years old. The community remains in shock following the incident, which eyewitnesses say was triggered by the uncoordinated distribution of campaign materials.
According to sources on the ground, Aeku had deployed his mobilisation team to drum up support for both his re-election bid and President Museveni’s candidacy. However, excitement quickly turned into chaos when a vehicle carrying yellow NRM T-shirts arrived at the venue.
Sarah Aibo, a relative of the deceased who witnessed the incident, said residents had gathered eagerly after learning that a political candidate was coming to campaign in the area.
“When the vehicle arrived, and people started throwing T-shirts into the crowd, everything changed,” Aibo said.
She added that she tried to restrain Ajiko from joining the scramble, but her warnings were ignored. In the confusion, Ajiko was knocked down by the surging crowd and tragically trampled. Efforts to rush her to Soroti Regional Referral Hospital proved futile, as she was pronounced dead on arrival.
Another eyewitness, Emmy Ogonga, described the scene as chaotic and blamed the tragedy on poor organisation by the campaign team.
“If those giving out the T-shirts had asked people to line up and receive them calmly, this would not have happened,” Ogonga said.
“The negligence lies with our leaders, who should understand how desperate people in villages are for even the smallest things.”
Gabriel Engau, the NRM Chairperson for Asuroi village and Secretary of the LC1, confirmed that the rally had progressed peacefully until the arrival of the vehicle distributing T-shirts triggered a frenzy among the crowd.
The tragedy has left residents deeply distressed, particularly amid claims that no political leaders have since reached out to the bereaved family or the community.
Moses Olang, the District Police Commander (DPC) of Katine Central Police Station, confirmed that the incident occurred during an NRM campaign rally organised by Aeku and said investigations are underway. “We have deployed a large team of officers to record statements,” Olang said.
“Our Criminal Investigations Department personnel are on the ground, engaging witnesses to establish exactly what happened.”
Police are currently compiling a case file. While no political leaders have been summoned yet, investigations are ongoing to determine accountability.
A postmortem examination is yet to be conducted to establish the exact cause of death. Efforts to obtain a comment from Patrick Aeku were unsuccessful, as all known contacts were unreachable by press time.
The incident mirrors a previous tragedy in July 2025, when a campaign vehicle linked to Aeku was involved in an accident that claimed one life and left several others injured—raising renewed concerns over crowd control and safety during political activities in the region.
As the community mourns the loss of a young mother, the incident stands as a stark reminder of the desperation faced by many Ugandans and the dangers posed by poorly managed political events. The painful aftermath is expected to linger in Asuroi village for a long time.
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