The battle for Lira City Division Member of Parliament is heating up ahead of January 15 polls, with two people vying for the seat. The contestants are James Ocen of the Uganda People’s Congress (UPC) party and Denis Alyela Omodi of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party.
Jimmy Akena Obote, son of former President Apollo Milton Obote and also the incumbent MP, abandoned the race to challenge President Yoweri Museveni in the 2026 elections, only to be blocked by the Electoral Commission (EC). The electoral body disqualified Akena, along with Joseph Ochieno and Dennis Adim Enap, from contesting for the presidential nomination under the UPC ticket. The EC cited their ineligibility to hold a valid UPC party card as required by the party’s constitution.
The EC’s decision stemmed from UPC’s internal wrangles, with Akena’s leadership term having expired without formal extension by the party’s organs. However, while addressing journalists at the party headquarters on December 10, 2025, Akena claimed Museveni, who is the NRM presidential candidate, was the mastermind of his disqualification. He urged his supporters to alternatively vote amongst other seven presidential contenders but not the NRM flagbearer.
“I want to tell you, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni is responsible for my disqualification, and I have been telling all members who support Akena that Museveni is responsible for my disqualification. Whoever wishes to vote for Akena, please don’t vote for Museveni; rather, vote for one of the other seven candidates. And if you don’t want any of them, write my name, Akena, on the ballot,” he said.
Initially, the contest to replace Akena was a three-way race, with Isaac Apenyo (Independent) also in the running. However, just a few days to the polls, Apenyo withdrew from the race, and his withdrawal has left the field to Ocen and Omodi, who are now locked in a tight battle. Apenyo had earlier lost the UPC party flag to Ocen during the August 2025 party primaries, a development that prompted him to contest as an independent candidate until January 5, 2026, when he officially stepped down.
UPC’s Ocen is banking on his party’s legacy and grassroots connections. “We have a strong team on the ground, and we’re confident of winning,” he says.
On the other hand, NRM’s Alyela is counting on the ruling party’s resources and infrastructure. “The people of Lira want continuity and development, and that’s what we offer,” he says.
Alyela, a civil servant and survivor of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) insurgency, pledges to deliver transformative leadership rooted in lived experience, unity, and infrastructure development. He argues that the political landscape has evolved, noting that UPC, once the primary opposition force in Lango Sub-region, has since merged with the NRM following the 2021 elections. The NRM flag bearer says the people are now united under one political umbrella, focusing not on competition but on the collective development of Lira City.
About Alyela
Alyela, who was the town clerk of Nakawa Division in Kampala, officially resigned and handed over his office on June 30, 2025, to concentrate on the Lira City East MP bid. He was handed the NRM flag after defeating strong contenders, including Presidential Advisor Francis Okello-Opio and businessman Ogwal Umar Kanjule.
About Ocen
Ocen is the managing director of Giftlife Clinic and Faith Secondary School. During the 2021 elections, he contested for the Lira City East parliamentary seat as an Independent candidate against the incumbent MP Akena, but lost the election. Ocen, as head (Awitong) of Okarowok Atar Clan, is known for his niceness to most mothers who access healthcare services from his private facility located in Teso Bar in Lira City.
Key issues
Key issues shaping the elections include, among others, poor road network within the city, lack of access to affordable education, and compensation of those whose livestock got lost during the two-decade insurgency. Also, there is a need for the government to invest in agro-processing plants, promote livestock farming through scaling up animal rearing with improved breeds, veterinary services, and markets, and water for production through increased access to affordable irrigation technologies.
Voters
A total of 55,150 voters registered for the 2021 polls in Lira East Division, according to data from the Electoral Commission.