As Uganda prepares for the 2026 elections, citizen engagement in the electoral process is paramount. Through education, awareness, and active participation, voters can contribute to the advancement of democracy and the promotion of good governance in our nation.
In this second edition, the Nile Times senior political writer continues to examine the performance of legislators from the Lango sub region since they were elected in 2021.
Today, we focus on Lira District, where two legislators, including Erute South MP Jonathan Odur (UPC) and Woman MP Linda Agnes Auma, have continued to maintain a series of politically reliable activities and coordination both on the ground and in the house.
MP LINDA AUMA:
Since 2021, when Auma was elected to the 11th Parliament on an independent ticket, she has continued to strive and serve in accordance with the laws that mandate the roles of a legislator.
MP Auma has recorded impressive performances in the house, where she often makes critical contributions both during plenary sessions and at the committee.
Recently, she made headlines when she confronted the government in parliament for failing to pay war claimants who had been awarded compensation for their lost livestock and property during various insurgencies in Northern Uganda.
MP Auma, who mercilessly trounced then NRM candidate Florence Angina Adupa in the 2021 election, has continued to maintain closed engagements with her constituents, a move that massively solidified her political capacity, clothing it with full green light as we head towards the 2026 election.
Recently, Angina Adupa, upon foreseeing no political relevance and malnourished political capacity to defeat MP Auma while still in NRM, defected to the UPC Party with the view of benefiting from MP Jimmy Akena’s political favor in Lango.
Since 2022, MP Auma has initiated the distribution of clean, strong aluminum saucepans to every household in the district. All these deliveries had previously eluded her predecessors.
This was part of her constituency tour conducted every fortnight to mobilize local residents on how to benefit from government programs, including PDM and wealth creation.
In addition to distributing clean energy-strong saucepans with each costing Ugx25, 000, MP Auma has also established poultry projects through several farmers’ groups in Lira district, where chicks worth millions of shillings were recently delivered to beneficiaries.
Early this year, MP Auma, through her office, handed several scholastic materials, including metallic boxes and mattresses, among others, to the best-performing 2023 candidates who scored first grade in Lira district.
It’s also on record that MP Auma, through her lobbying from several development partners, has been able to extend financial support to several women groups in the district.
MP Auma is also on record to have lobbied for many government programs for the economic empowerment of her electorate, including three irrigation projects and drilling and repair of several bore holes.
Recently, she also went on record to have been part of lobbying machinery that prompted the government, through the Ministry of Agriculture to deliver handheld tractors, including one big one in Lira district to promote commercial farming
As part of her social responsibility, MP Auma has also been providing tents to facilitate burial activities and supporting youth sporting activities by giving them footballs and assorted uniforms in all villages in the district.
She has been vocal on the issue of Akii Bua Stadium since Minister of Sports Peter Ogwang embarked on a hot-air launch of the construction.
Under education, MP Auma has sponsored several youths who couldn’t afford formal education to undergo vocational skill training.
In health, she has ever organized and directly funded health camps where residents benefited from free medical services, including women screened for cervical cancer, among others.
In a nutshell, MP Auma’s critical contributions both in Parliament and on the ground have sent her opponents into political panic, a move that saw Angina defect to the UPC.
MP JONATHAN ODUR
The Erute South County legislator is serving his second term in parliament since 2026 and has emerged as one of the few critical top debaters in the 11th Parliament with exclusive informative and legal-sensitive submissions.
MP Odur is among the top five lawmakers in the current parliament whose absence from the house causes endless boring debate on matters of national importance.
Without his submission in most debates during plenary sessions, it is like the discussion hasn’t been resolved. His tireless submissions in the House have often been seconded by both government and opposition members.
When Odur defeated former Minister Sam Engola, the then NRM Strongman, many political pundits predicted the resurrection of his predecessor, the late John Odit, whose contributions in the 8th parliament belonged to the league of elite debaters.
This move continues to endanger his opponents’ strategies to unseat him in 2026, including Sam Engola and the Apac RDC George Abdul, who have expressed interest in the same seat.
As a former civil activist, poverty eradication and development advocate, MP Odur has exclusively continued to use his mobilization and generosity mentality to donate and support various projects in the Erute South.
Once the duo maintains the current scorecards, both MPs Odur and Auma will face no political stress in 2026 since their muscles have held a deeply sunk grip on their evolving opponents, clothed with little or no political threat against their leadership territories.
Stay tuned for our third edition of this accountability series.
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