Okot John Amos the newly elected member of parliament for Agago North sets out his vision for his constituency

Okot John Amos a pastor, former MP in the 9th parliament and flag bearer of the National Resistance Movement Party won the 2021 Parliamentary elections to become the member of parliament for Agago North.

In his victory speech, the MP-elect thanked the electorate for electing him and pledged unity as the way forward for any meaningful development. He reiterated his stance on supporting development in the constituency and key among the issues he pledged to address was using the committee of nine established in every ward as a means to identifying challenges faced by the community in various areas such as education.

Such committees would help identify how to support women empowerment through SACCOs and Village loan schemes. They would also look at how to empower the youth especially equipping them with technical skills in areas like carpentry, masonry, tailoring and metal fabrication to allow them to earn a living and be self-reliant.

Additionally, he pledged to ensure that the government would construct a health centre in Kalongo town council which currently has no public health facility. This would help the population who often suffer catastrophic health expenditures as they have to pay out of pocket to access health services from the private facility of Dr. Ambrosoli Memorial Hospital in Kalongo.

How Kalongo decided in the 2021 elections

Voters of Kalongo and Agago district flocked to the polls to elect the President and parliamentarians on the 14 January 2021. This election had 18,103,603 registered voters at the national level and 98,354 registered voters in Agago district.

Kalongo Town Council located in Agago district had a total of 4,922 registered voters (representing 5% of district and 0.027% of the total registered voters in Uganda).

Kalongo town council had 10 polling stations, generally. Polling started off well without any major glitches with most polling stations starting off relatively early.

Turn out at the polling stations in Kalongo town Council was relatively low, a total of 2,748 (55.83%) registered voters turned up. In comparison, in the previous election of 2016, there were 4,356 registered voters in Kalongo Town council of which 3,178 (72.9%) turned out to vote.

This relatively low turn out in this election could be attributed to a couple of factors, Corona pandemic that made some potential voters shy away, and voter apathy emanating from the fact that many were resigned to the fact that the status quo would remain.

Agago North had 35,957(41.9% of total voters registered in Agago district 85,759) is a constituency in Agago district where Kalongo Town Council is located.

Presidential Candidates

There were eleven presidential candidates on the ballot paper namely:

  1. Patrick Oboi Amuriat – Forum for Democratic Change FDC)
  2. Kabuletta Kizza Joseph  – Independent
  3. Kalembe Nancy Linda  – Independent
  4. Katumba John– Independent
  5. Kyagulanyi Ssentamu Robert of the National Unity Platform (NUP)
  6. Mayambala Willy – Independent
  7. Mugisha Muntu Gregg – Alliance for National transformation (ANT)
  8. Mwesigye Fred – Independent
  9. Nobert Mao – – Democratic Party (DP)
  10. – Independent
  11. Yoweri Museveni Tibuhaburwa Kaguta – National Resistance Movement (NRM)

Directly Elected Parliamentarians Agago North

There were six Directly Elected Parliamentarians Agago North Constituency where Kalongo is located namely:

No.NameParty  
 1.Ogenga Latigo Morris WodamidaIndependent 
 2.Ojera Jackson AbucuIndependent 
 3.Oketta Walter OgwangIndependent 
 4.Okot John AmosNational Resistance Movement (NRM) 
 5.Opio Kenneth OyoIndependent 
6.Opoka Kenneth GeoffreyForum for Democratic Change (FDC) 

There were five female members of Parliament for Agago District:

No.NameParty
 Abalo Lillian OngomIndependent
 Aber Lilly GorettiIndependent
 Akello Beatrice AkoriNational Resistance Movement (NRM)
 Akello Judith FrancaForum for Democratic Change (FDC)
 Okidi WinnieIndependent

The election results

Agago district presidential results according to the release by Uganda independent electoral commission

No.NamePolitical PartyTotal Ballots Cast% of total ballots cast
 Patrick Oboi Amuriat FDC1,5952.49%
 Kabuletta Kizza Joseph INDPENDENT3370.53%
 Kalembe Nancy Linda INDPENDENT2990.47%
 Katumba JohnINDPENDENT2020.32%
 Kyagulanyi Ssentamu RobertNUP10,55916.51%
 Mugisha Muntu GreggANT1,8342.87
 Muyambala WillyINDPENDENT2430.38%
 Mwesigye FredINDPENDENT4070.64%
 Nobert MaoDP3560.56%
 Tumukunde Henry KakuguruINDPENDENT4330.68%
 Yoweri Museveni Tibuhaburwa KagutaNRM47,69674.57%

Kalongo town council presidential results according to the release by Uganda electoral commission

No.NamePolitical PartyTotal Ballots Cast% of total ballots cast
1.Patrick Oboi Amuriat FDC491.86%
2Kabuletta Kizza Joseph INDPENDENT90.34%
3Kalembe Nancy Linda INDPENDENT90.34%
4Katumba JohnINDPENDENT90.34%
5Kyagulanyi Ssentamu RobertNUP74328.13%
6Mugisha Muntu GreggANT220.83
7Muyambala WillyINDPENDENT90.34
8Mwesigye FredINDPENDENT110.42
9Nobert MaoDP1977.46
10Tumukunde Henry KakuguruINDPENDENT40.19
11Yoweri Museveni Tibuhaburwa KagutaNRM1,57959.79

The presidential polls which drew in 11 presidential contestants including the incumbent were highly contested with the main challenger being Kyagulanyi Ssentamu Robert.

The incumbent Yoweri Museveni of the NRM received massive support in this election garnering 58.38% of the total votes cast at the national level down from 60.62% in 2016. with 67.61% of registered voters turning up to vote in the country.

Agago district had 85,759 registered voters but only 62,274 (72.62%) cast their votes and 35,501(59.91%) voted for candidate Yoweri Kaguta Museveni who was the incumbent in 2016.

In 2021 the incumbent who was declared winner garnered 6,042,898 58.38% at the national level; 47,696 (74.57%) in Agago District and 1,579(59.79%) in Kalongo Town Council.

The dictum in this election was about getting a share of the national cake which according to the people in the north has been very minimal compared to other parts of the country that have been voting overwhelmingly for the NRM in the past elections.

The people of Kalongo in particular and Agago North, as well as the whole of Acoli region and the greater northern region, voted overwhelmingly for the incumbent (President) Yoweri Museveni Tibuhaburwa Kaguta so as to “partake in the share of the national cake”.

The main contender Kyagulanyi Ssentamu Robert of the National Unity Platform (NUP) a first timer at the presidential polls who came 2nd with 3,631,437 votes (35.08%) has rejected the results and is considering contesting the results in the supreme court.

In Agago district and Kalongo Town council Kyagulanyi also came 2nd polling 10,559 votes (16.51%) and 743 votes (28.13%) respectively. Just like his Rtd. Col. Dr. Kizza Besigye a seasoned opposition figure from the FDC party have failed to unseat the incumbent.

In 2016 he came 2nd polling 3,508,687(35.61%) at national level, and also in Agago district polling 19,204 (32.45%) and in Kalongo he out maneuvered the incumbent polling 5,413 (57.44%) against Yoweri Museveni NRM 1,178(38.1%).

This could have been attributed to Prof. Ogenga Latigo who hails from Kalongo Town Council and was a heavyweight-populist candidate of the FDC and his message at that time was vote for the FDC flag bearer.

Dr. Besigye this time round did not vie for Presidential election, instead Amuriat Oboi Patrick held the flag for the FDC but trailed in third position at the national polls securing only 387,589(3.26%); he came 4th both in Agago District and Kalongo town council with only 1,529 (2.49%) behind DP’s Nobert Mao who got 1,834 (2.87%) in Agago district, and in Kalongo Town Council he polled 49(1,86%) and Mao’s 197 (7.46%) respectively.

The absence of Dr. Besigye and the emergence of the Pop Star turned Politician Kyagulanyi Ssentamu Robert aka Bobi Wine affected the main opposition FDC performance in this election. Many heavy weight FDC MP’s including Agago North’s Prof Ogenga Latigo chose to stand as independents or join other political parties, unfortunately, most of them became casualties thus failing to secure entrance into the 11th parliament.

The success in the incumbent candidate Yoweri Museveni Tibuhaburwa Kaguta performance in Kalongo Town Council that had been mainly a stronghold of the FDC is partly attributed to the change in tone of the area MP Prof. Ogenga Latigo who abandoned the FDC to stand as an Independent and his message encouraging the electorates to vote for the incumbent.

To a larger extent though, the main reason for this trajectory in the voting pattern is that, the population is yearning for support from the government that has seemed to elude them because of how they voted in past elections. This time they chose to participate from the inside so as to benefit.

Agago North constituency directly elected member of parliament qualitative results

No.NameParty
 1.Ogenga Latigo Morris WodamidaIndependent
 2.Ojera Jackson AbucuIndependent
 3.Oketta Walter OgwangIndependent
 4.Okot John AmosNRM
 5.Opio Kenneth OyoIndependent
6.Opoka Kenneth GeoffreyFDC

Okot John Amos, a pastor, former MP in the 9th parliament and flag bearer of the National Resistance Movement Party emerged the outright winner in the Parliamentary elections and becomes the member of parliament for Agago North. This was a comeback after losing out in the last election of 2016.

He beat five other candidates including the incumbent Prof. Ogenga Latigo, a two-time MP on FDC ticket 2006 -2011 and later 2016 -2021 and also a former leader of Opposition in the Ugandan Parliament (8th Parliament 2006-2011).

Agago district woman member of parliament Kalongo town council election results

No.NameParty
1Abalo Lillian OngomIndependent
2Aber Lilly GorettiIndependent
3Akello Beatrice AkoriNRM
4Akello Judith FrancaFDC
5Okidi WinnieIndependent

Akello Beatrice Akori of the National Resistance Movement Party (NRM) secured an early lead beating other four contestants for the Agago women Parliamentary seat. She, therefore, becomes the 2nd woman member of parliament after the incumbent who has been consecutively a member of parliament in the 8th,9th  and 10th parliament on the opposition forum for the democratic change  (FDC) ticket.

Akello Beatrice who has been a Resident District Commissioner RDC) of Apac district and earlier as RDC of Nwoya district, resigned her appointment with the government to vie on the ruling party ticket that has seen her succeed on her second attempt to enter the August house.

In her victory speech, the MP-elect thanked her voters for giving her the mandate to represent them, she pledged to work together with all the people of Agago to champion their course. She promised to schedule a fact-finding working visit in all the sub-counties aimed at identifying challenges for the different demographic groups and together forging points of actions and ultimately getting solutions.

Agago county and Agago west constituency qualitative results

Agago district has three constituencies (Agago County, Agago North and Agago West), with the latest Agago west constituency having been created a few months prior to this elections.

In Agago county constituency, Mr. Lagen David Atuka of the National Resistance Movement Party (NRM) was voted in after defeating three other contestants. In an election which was too close to call, he won by a whisker.

Whereas in Agago West the newly gazette constituency Anywar Richard Ricky emerged the winner on the National Resistance Movement Party NRM ticket beating three other independent candidates he, therefore, becomes the first directly elected member of parliament for Agago west constituency.

Agago district chairperson LCV and counsellors Kalongo town council qualitative results

On the 20 January, 2021 Ugandans again went to the polls to elect local government leaders. This includes elections for the District Chairman Local Council V and its councilors representing sub-counties and town councils. The position of the Chairman Agago district had two contestants, the flag bearer of the National resistance Movement Mr. Opio Leonard Ojok who is also the incumbent and Mr. Okello, John Wilfred Ateng an Independent candidate.

Just like all other previous elections the NRM flag bearers took the day. Mr. Opio Lenard Ojok managed to succeed himself as the next duly elected chairman LC V. of Agago district local government This is the second time (2016 and now 2021) the two lock horns for the same position and getting the same outcome.

Kalongo Town council on the same day also elected councilors representing both the male and female at Agago district Local Government. Similarly, like all other positions, the National Resistance Movement Party flag bearers sailed through unscathed; Mr. Okeny Ceaser was elected as male councilor V and Mrs. Akumu Rosemary representing the female councilor representing Kalongo Town Council at the district local government.

One other important election due to take place on the 3 February 2021 which the population is bracing for at sub-county/town council level is the Chairpersons L C III/Chairperson Urban Council and its councilors representing the parishes elections.

The electoral commission is yet to gazette and publish the parliamentary and local council election results. Analysis of the quantitative results shall be provided as and when the figures shall be availed.

The current term of the government expires in May` 2021 and all the successful candidates shall assume office.

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