Business in Lira Town came to a standstill on Saturday afternoon as hundreds of people welcomed Oyam South MP, Ms. Betty Amongi Ongom.

Hundreds danced on Lira Main Street, Lira City, Amongi being in the area to register and transfer her polling station from Akaidebe, Minakulu Sub-county, Oyam South in Oyam District, to Senior Quarters ‘A’ Polling Station in Lira City.

Ms. Amongi is vying for the seat currently occupied by the Minister of Health, Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) party.

Supporters painted the street red and yellow as they escorted Ms. Amongi to Lira Mayor’s Garden, where she later addressed a rally.

The Minister of Gender, Labour, and Social Development was accompanied by her husband, Mr. Jimmy Akena Obote, also the Uganda People’s Congress (UPC) party president, and other dignitaries.

However, supporters of the incumbent area legislator, Dr. Aceng, have poured water on Amongi’s chances of winning the 2026 parliamentary elections.

Ms. Zena Opolot, Dr. Aceng’s political assistant, stated: “We’re not threatened at all with her (Amongi’s) coming. Let her come. We’re ready for her. Come what may, Dr. Jane will have to go through, and she will be the Member of Parliament of Lira City come 2026.”

This is the second time in 16 years that Ms. Amongi is shifting her political base.

In 2010, she abandoned Apac District, where she was the area Woman MP and shifted to Oyam South, and was voted as the first directly elected female Member of Parliament for Oyam South.

Amongi was born on November 15, 1975, and has spearheaded the campaign advocating for the scrapping of refunds of bride prices in Uganda.

Through her work in Somalia, the clan leaders who were opposed to a constitutional provision of including women representation in Parliament accepted to progressively adopt a quota system for women.

She has also been involved in global campaigns on peace and security

She served as Minister of Lands, Housing, and Urban Development. She previously served as the Cabinet Minister of Kampala Capital City before being posted to her current portfolio of Gender, Labour, and Social Development.

On her part, Aceng holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Medicine (MBChB), MMED (pediatrics), Masters in Public Health, and Diploma in Health System Strengthening.

She served as a medical officer, senior medical officer, medical officer special grade, medical superintendent, consultant pediatrician, senior consultant pediatrician, hospital director, and formerly as the Director General of Health Services.

Ms. Amongi of the Uganda People’s Congress party said the Lira City Woman MP seat is hers.

“I have registered and relocated because I will be contesting for the position of Lira City Woman Member of Parliament. And make no mistake, I am going to win,” the minister of Gender, Labour, and Social Development told journalists on February 1, 2025.

“I am saddened that the current Member of Parliament has divided our people. We are not going to allow our people to be divided across religious lines, across class, and across power struggles. I am coming to unite the people of Lango because Lira City is at the heart of Lango,” she added.