There was a sombre mood in West Nile region on Sunday during the celebrations to mark the Independence Day, with many people complaining about shortage of electricity, inadequate water supply, poor education facilities and underdevelopment.

Speaking during the Independence Day Celebrations in Arua Town, the Arua Woman MP, Ms Christine Abia, said: "The independence does not mean anything when our pupils are performing poorly. Imagine even in mock exams in the municipality there are few first grades out of thousands of pupils who sat. This is painful."

The municipality engineer, Mr Gabriel Aridru, said electricity and water is the backbone of any economy. "For sure the issue of power is making us lag behind in development. We need to lobby for more so that we can work on the electricity crisis.

In Moyo District, the occasion was attended by few people, mainly school children below the age of 18.

The Moyo District Cahirman, Mr Jimmy Vukoni Okudi, said: "I have come here not to celebrate but to attend because Moyo District is one of the first 16 districts created since independence time but has failed to break the jaws of poverty."

Mr Vukoni added: "Why should we celebrate if our women are still giving birth at home and people keep on dying because of simple diseases on daily basis. To me we are not independent."

In Nebbi District, there was no official celebrations due to the dispute between Mr William Ezrom Alenyo and Mr Robert Okumu over who won the LC5 election.