PICTURES: Akena makes Dokolo feel for Aguti

DOKOLO | The Uganda People's Congress (UPC) flag bearer, Sarah Aguti, received the full blessings of the Lango ancestry on Tuesday as her party president Jimmy Akena asked Dokolo to trust entrust her with their motherly dreams in Thursday's Dokolo Woman Representative by-election. Jimmy Akena is also the son of Uganda's two-time President Milton Obote, who hailed from Lango and remains a revered legend among the people. In Lango, Akena is like the will of his departed father and continues to earn respect across the political divide. But whether the respect the people show him outside can translate into the secrecy of the polling booths is something for Thursday's vote to decide. Sarah Aguti Nyangori emerged as the official party flag bearer following the UPC District Conference held on February 19, 2024, at Dokolo Catholic Parish. This decision came after the voluntary withdrawal of fellow party members, Comrades Josephine Acen Okullu and Anna Okwir, who had previously shown interest in the position. Aguti faces six other candidates in Thursday's vote. They are the late Cecilia Ogwal' s daughter, Dr Rosemary Alwoc Ogwal of the Forum for Democratic Change, National Unity Platform's Harriet Ageno, and independents Dr Esther Akullo Otada, and Rebecca Arao. The Dokolo Woman Representative by-election was called following the death of Cecilia Atim Ogwal, once the iron lady of Ugandan politics. Ms Ogwal had held the mantle and led the district women's affairs in Parliament from 2006 when Dokolo became an administrative unit. She died in January. In the run-up to the by-election, there were suggestions that the Opposition fields a united candidate but that was never going to happen as FDC that held the incumbency were not expected to just step aside yet UPC was quick to raise its hands up owing to its recent gentleman's agreement with the ruling NRM. In a country where emotions once took a teenage Proscovia Alengot walked her way into Parliament without drying a silver in campaigns after voters in Usuk County in Katakwi District decided she was the best person to replace her father Michael Oromait who had died as a serving MP, Ms Ogwal instantly became the favourite to replace her mother. It will be a mountain for Sarah Aguti to climb on Thursday but certainly not the moon that is beyond dreams.

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