Zoe Bakoko Set for Grand Homecoming in Arua After 16 Years in Exile

Arua City – April 6, 2025

Preparations are in high gear in Arua City as the region readies itself to welcome former Minister for Gender, Labour and Social Development, Zoe Bakoko Bakoru, back home after over 15 years of self-imposed exile in the United States.

Bakoko, a former Member of Parliament for Arua District and Ayivu County, quietly returned to Uganda in August 2024. 

Since then, she has been working under the Office of Gen. Salim Saleh in Gulu, but has not set foot in her native West Nile region until now.

Bakoko Bakoru, Gen Salim Saleh And Rebecca Kadaga

Her first public appearance in West Nile is scheduled for Friday, April 12, during the commemoration of 22 years of peace in the region. 

The event, to be held in Yumbe District, will be presided over by President Yoweri Museveni, who is expected to recognize Bakoko’s role in pacifying the region during the turbulent years of the West Nile Bank Front and Uganda National Rescue Front II insurgencies.

A nurse by profession, Bakoko began her career at Yumbe Hospital and later served as District Nurse at Arua Hospital before venturing into politics. She served as Woman MP for Arua from 1996 to 2001, and subsequently defeated MP Dick Nyai to represent Ayivu County from 2001 to 2006. During her tenure, she was appointed minister, but her political career was derailed by the infamous NSSF Nsimbe Estates scandal in which she reportedly blocked a fraudulent deal worth over UGX 8 billion. 

Amid threats to her life, she fled Uganda in 2007 and sought asylum in the U.S.

In May 2011, President Museveni granted her a pardon and encouraged her to return, a move many believe set the stage for her eventual comeback.

On Sunday, April 13, Bakoko will travel from Yumbe to Arua City, where she will be received at Greenlight Stadium in Onduparaka for a grand welcome and thanksgiving Mass presided over by the Bishop of Arua Diocese, Rt. Rev. Sabino Ocan Odoki. She will later meet Ayivu elders and address residents at a community gathering.

Ceaser Draecabo, Chairperson of the Central Organizing Committee, described Bakoko’s return as “symbolic” and a “reignition of the region’s development momentum.”

Faith Cecilia, Bakoko’s second-born daughter who lived with her in the U.S., said the family had endured a “deep void” during her absence and is relieved to finally reunite with their extended community in Arua.

Local leaders, including Angelo Drani Dradriga, an Ayivu elder and Foreign Affairs Officer, and Swadik Angupale, the Deputy Resident City Commissioner of Arua, have all endorsed the homecoming, emphasizing her contributions to peacebuilding and development.

Joyce Amaguru, longtime friend and NRM Chairperson for Arua City, believes Bakoko’s return could herald a new political era for the ruling party in the region, particularly as the country inches closer to the next general elections. Many anticipate that Bakoko may re-enter active politics and contest for office once again.

President Museveni is widely expected to attend both the Yumbe and Arua events, and possibly award Bakoko a Peace Medal in recognition of her efforts.

As Arua prepares to roll out the red carpet, all eyes are on Zoe Bakoko, whose return signals both personal redemption and a potential shift in West Nile’s political landscape.