Voters throw out Lango district incumbents over graft, bad roads

Voters in Lango Sub-region have revealed why they threw out all the incumbent district chairpersons in the January 21 polls.

Voters cited corruption coupled with poor service delivery as some of the factors that informed their choices for district chairpersons.

Eight incumbent chairpersons failed to retain their seats in Dokolo, Lira, Oyam, Kwania, Amolatar, Otuke, Kole and Alebtong districts. There are nine districts that make up Lango.

It is only in Apac where the incumbent, Mr Bob Okae (UPC), chose to contest for the Kwania North parliamentary seat, which he won.  

In Lira, Mr Alex Oremo Alot of the Uganda Peoples Congress (UPC) lost the seat he has occupied for the last 15 years to NRM’s Richard Cox Okello Orik.
Mr Orik obtained 17,200 votes followed by Mr William Onyanga (Ind)with14,021 votes while Mr Oremo garnered 7,750 votes.

 Mr Oremo’s integrity was questioned after his administration was accused of mismanaging Shs665 million meant for the construction of Akii-Bua Memorial Stadium.

 The former Lira chief administrative officer, Mr Mark Tivu, said the district only received about Shs300 million for preliminary works at the site.  
Mr Oremo distanced himself from any wrongdoing, saying there was value for money in the project which critics described as “shoddily” done.

In Dokolo, Mr Fredrick Odongo, alias Kong Fu Master (Ind), lost the seat to Mr James Apili Otto of Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) who obtained 16,205 votes.

He was followed by Mr Ambrose Ogwang Awitong (NRM) who got 13,289 votes and Mr Odongo polled 5,764 votes.  

In Kole, the incumbent chairperson, Ms Betty Akoli Nam (Ind), lost her seat to NRM’s Andrew Awany, the former Alebtong Resident District Commissioner (RDC).

Mr Awany garnered 24,423 votes against Ms Nam’s 1,007 votes.
Mr Bonny Okello Alele (Ind), who was beaten by Mr Awany during NRM primaries, came second with 13,422 votes.
 
Mr Caesar Alaju (UPC), who had already withdrawn from the race, obtained 2,635 votes.
The National Unity Platform’s candidate, Mr Emmanuel Omang, polled 388 votes.

Voters said Ms Nam lost her seat because she did not campaign, adding that they thought she was no longer interested in the race.
In Oyam, the incumbent chairman, Mr Nelson Adea Akar (UPC), was defeated by NRM’s Benson Dila Oyuku.
Mr Dila garnered 37,093 votes against Mr Adea’s 32,257 votes.

Critics said other district leaders lost because they pursued selfish interests instead of following up on community projects.
In Otuke, bad roads prompted voters to throw out the incumbent chairman, Mr Bosco Odongo Obote (NRM).
Mr Obote, who was trounced by UPC’s Francis Abola, was seeking a third term.
 
Mr Abola garnered 11,685 votes, Mr Odongo got 7,388 votes and Mr Tom Otim (Ind) polled 7,321 votes.
The Ogwete Sub-county chairperson, Mr Peter Okweda, said the district roads, especially in Ogwete and Olilim sub-counties are in sorry state despite several appeals to the district leadership.

 “Our cries over bad roads cost him (Mr Odongo) votes because he did not listen,” Mr Okeda said.
“The road from Ikwee to Amaji up to the border of Kapelebyong District was supposed to be worked on, but we don’t know where the money government had released for that road went,” Mr Okweda said.
He said Mr Odongo’s incompetence was making several government projects fail, citing the project for the upgrade of Ogwete Health Centre III.

The Shs500m project was awarded to Otada Construction Company but the work has since stalled.
“He (Mr Odongo) had neglected Otuke East in terms of development and was concentrating on Otuke West where he comes from so, people of Otuke East decided to vote for their own (Mr Abola), who hails from Olilim Sub-county,” Mr Okweda said.   “Money also played a key factor in these elections since people voted for candidates who gave them money,”  he added.

 In Apac, UPC’s Asanti Odongo, the vice chairperson, was declared winner after obtaining 26,180 votes.
He was facing three others, including FDC’s Walter Obang who got 464 votes, Mr Billy Okunyu of NRM who polled 16,505 votes and Mr Anthony Olobo Odur (Ind) who garnered 491 votes.
Voters said Mr Odongo took the seat because he has served in the district council for more than 10 years.  

Many people believe he has vast experience in running the district affairs compared to other contenders.
 In Kwania, Mr Alex Geoffrey Ogwal of UPC defeated the incumbent, Mr Basil Okello Onac (Ind).
Mr Okello lost over alleged abuse of office and incompetence.

 Mr Okello Onac’s image was further tainted in 2020 after being accused of  transporting produce using a government vehicle.  The Toyota Double cabin was intercepted at Aduku Town Council with groundnuts  reportedly from Mr Okello’s garden.  
The vehicle was impounded following a tip-off from concerned residents that the chairman was misusing the vehicle.

In Alebtong, Mr Dickens Kennedy Odongo of UPC has regained the seat after defeating the incumbent, Mr Johnson Okello (Ind).  
Mr Odongo left the seat in 2016 to contest in Ajuri County as MP, but lost to the incumbent NRM’s Denis Hamson Obua.  

Mr Odongo was declared winner after obtaining 22,965 votes against Mr Okello’s 5,690 votes and NRM’s Patrick Okullo Okeng with 13,138 votes.
In Lira City, the interim mayor, Mr Mike Ogwang Olwa Veve of UPC was also trounced by Mr Sam Atul (Ind). Mr Atul polled 12,515 votes against Mr Ogwang’s 12,056 votes.

 Other contenders  included NRM’s Willy Omodo Omodo who got 6,534 votes, Mr Denis Ongona (Ind) (404 votes) and Mr Martin Ocen Odyek (Ind) polled 729 votes.
Mr Charles Otim and Mr George Mawa both independents polled 1,459 votes and 1,923 votes, respectively.

District speaker takes amolatar
In Amolatar, the former district speaker, Mr Geoffrey Ocen of UPC trounced the incumbent, Mr Simon Peter Ongom (Ind) after garnering 25,900 votes against his rival’s 7,880 votes.

 Residents attributed Mr Ocen’s victory to buying an ambulance for the community.  Mr Denis Opio, a political analyst, said people saw Mr Ocen as their only hope because of his stand with the fishermen who were being tortured by the military enforcing the fishing ban on Lake Kyoga.

 “Mr Ongom sided with the army and encouraged them to torture people found carrying illegal fishing in the lake. But Mr Ocen was pleading with the government that if you don’t want fishermen to stop using unrecommended fishing nets, compensate them to enable them buy the right ones,” Mr Opio said.

He said Mr Ocen fought corruption, and at one time sought the intervention of Speaker Rebecca Kadaga and the State House Anti-Corruption Unit’s head, Lt Col Edith Nakalema.
This led to the interdiction of the chief administrative officer, Mr Pius Epaju.

Compiled by Bill Oketch, Patrick Ebong, Santo Ojok and Isaac Otwii

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