By KT Reporter
For such a long time, veteran NRM cadre Willy Omodo-Omodo has been standing to get the elective office in Lango sub region only to end up defeated.
He is famous for serving as the spokesperson for the Lango cultural institution for such a long time. He also famously embraced and supported Amama Mbabazi’s presidential bid of 2016, in his capacity as the regional vice chairman for NRM youth league then headed by Denis Namara.
So, he is a guy with a big profile yet he hasn’t been lucky at winning elections that require universal adult suffrage. He is currently one of the 6 MP candidates for Oyam north seat where the incumbent is UPC’s Dr. Eunice Apio Otuko.
She got the seat about three years ago when she won the by-election which came after the death of area MP Col Baker Okello Engola. Besides Omodo and Dr. Apio who is seeking re-election, the other candidates are Sam Okello Engola Junior (the deceased minister’s son who lost the NRM flag bearer race to Omodo), ex-area MP Crispus Ayena Adong who is running as a UPC leaning independent after falling out with Jimmy Akena and David Okulu Gara who quit recently and stepped out of the race.
The research we have carried out shows that Omodo isn’t even among the top three frontrunners in the race. Dr. Apio remains a darling because voters are satisfied that she has done well in parliament in Kampala and in the constituency. The UPCs in the entire Lango are proud that she is currently the best performing UPC MP from their sub region.
The recent reporting by new vision based on the Hansard indicated that Dr. Apio is among the 5 most outspoken MPs from the entire north. And the best female MP from Lango according to the record of 2024, during the 3rd session of parliament.
Sam Okello Engola Jr, who is standing as an independent having been rigged out of the NRM primaries which Omoro won, is in the 2nd position behind Dr. Apio, who is also the wife of UPC secretary general Ebil Ebil Fred.
Omodo, the man from Achaba sub county and who has been standing for Oyam north since 2016, is in the distant number 4 inspite of the fact that he is the well-funded NRM candidate.
Because in 2021 he changed and stood as NRM candidate for Lira city mayor, many Oyam north voters see Omodo as a confused politician who hasn’t yet made up his mind on where he wants to stand and lead people from. They wonder why he stood in Lira city and not Oyam where he had twice stood before.
Sam Okello Engola Junior, who is heir to his dad who was killed by his own disgruntled bodyguard, enjoys the sympathy vote because voters feel he deserved to be given a government job after carrying the NRM flag in the by-election and losing to Dr. Apio of UPC.
This never happened because he had no godfather to pressurize the president on his behalf. He is a civil engineer who voters think is well qualified to get a government job but will never get one because he has no godfather to plead his case to the president.
Majority voters also feel that he was rigged out in the party primaries and that’s how Omodo became the flag bearer. The cheating claims are based on the fact that three NRM Oyam party officials were arrested and charged for committing criminal irregularities in the Oyam north primaries.
One of these is the NRM Oyam district chairman, the party registrar for the district and another. To majority voters, this justifies Sam Okello Engola Junior’s decision to stand as an independent and they feel they have a duty to console him with votes while rejecting perennial loser Omodo-Omodo. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com.
