Seven eye Cecilia Ogwal’s Dokolo seat

The battle for Dokolo District Woman MP seat is already boiling, with seven aspirants already eying it.

The seat fell vacant following the death of Barbara Cecilia Atim Ogwal of Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party, on January 18. 

Ogwal, who died due to a cancer-related illness from a hospital in India, was buried at her home in Dog-Gudu Village, Alito Sub-county in Kole District last Saturday.

While relatives and friends are still mourning her demise, seven people are in the succession queue. 

They include Ms Sarah Aguti Nyangkori of Uganda Peoples Congress (UPC) party and Ms Janet Rose Adong Elau of National Resistance Movement (NRM) party. The duo contested against Ogwal in 2021 General Election but lost. 

In 2021, Ogwal retained her seat after she garnered 32,223 votes against NRM’s Elau, who came second with 16,880 votes. UPC’s Aguti polled 10,460 votes in the hotly contested race. 

Others who have expressed their interest to replace Ogwal are Dr Anna Grace Lalam, Ms Beatrice Molly Abang (Dokolo District NRM chairperson), Ms Lillian Auma Okullo, Ms Rebecca Arao (Dokolo LC5 female councillor representing workers) and Ms Harriet Ageno Menidiro. 

However, this newspaper has established that FDC is yet to decide on who to front, with already series of meetings taking place in Lira City and Dokolo to pick a successor.   

It was also established that friends and relatives are proposing that Ogwal’s daughter should succeed her but during the burial on Saturday, none of them had shown interest in the seat.

At Ogwal’s burial, FDC leader Patrick Amuriat Oboi told other party leaders that it would make much sense if an FDC candidate goes unopposed in the Dokolo by-election.

The NRM party secretariat on Saturday night announced they are set to choose its flag bearer.
The Electoral Commission is yet to declare her seat vacant and come up with a roadmap for the by-election. 

Nonetheless, the NRM Secretary General, Mr Richard Todwong, said they will, in the coming days, embark on serious reorganisation of the party ahead of the forthcoming Dokolo by-election. This initiative, he said, is to ensure their flagbearer becomes Ogwal’s successor. 

Since Dokolo District was carved out of Lira District in 2006, Ogwal of FDC party had been the area Woman MP. 

“This coming month, we shall send a team to Dokolo to reorganise the party and thereafter we shall start the process of picking a flagbearer in the yet-to-be announced Dokolo Woman MP by-election,” Mr Todwong told this newspaper after meeting party leaders in Otuta Village, Abeli Parish, Akalo Sub-county in Kole District on Saturday night.

NRM yet to decide
He added: “We have a flagbearer who contested against the late Atat Ogwal in 2021 but we are yet to find out whether she is still interested in the seat.”

Mr Todwong further said they will have to do all it takes to ensure that the NRM wins.
“We don’t want to make the mistake we made in the Oyam North by-election. That was a very expensive mistake. We need to organise ourselves,” Mr Todwong said.

On July 6, 2023, the UPC flagbearer, Dr Eunice Apio Otuko, was elected Oyam North MP after trouncing NRM’s Samuel Junior Okello Engola and two others in that by-election.

The election, conducted after the seat fell vacant following the death of Col (Rtd) Charles Okello Engola Macodwogo, was characterised by massive vote-rigging and intimidation. 

Prior, political heavy-weights from Kampala, among them President Museveni, made last-ditch pitches to sway undecided voters in Oyam North Constituency to cast the ballot for flag bearers of their respective parties.

Others who combed the northern Uganda district before campaigns officially closed included National Unity Platform (NUP) leader Robert Kyagulanyi, alias Bobi Wine, and his Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) counterpart Patrick Oboi Amuriat.

Lira Municipality Member of Parliament Jimmy Akena, who heads a splinter faction of UPC party, also came in handy to drum up final support for the only female candidate in the race, Dr Otuko, who eventually won.