LIRA, Uganda — Tensions escalated in Lira City on polling day after Uganda’s Minister of Health, Dr Jane Ruth Aceng, accused her rival, Gender, Labour and Social Development Minister Betty Amongi Akena, of illegally campaigning while voting was underway in a tightly contested race for the Lira City Woman Member of Parliament (MP) seat.
The allegations emerged amid heightened security activity in the city, after Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) soldiers, led by 5 Division Commander Brig Gen Keith Katungji, escorted Amongi’s convoy back to her residence in Senior Quarters, Lira City East Division. A closed-door meeting followed, during which Amongi was temporarily confined to her home.
Initial reports suggested that Amongi had been detained over alleged voter bribery. However, by the time of publication, security agencies had not issued any official statement confirming the nature of the allegations or whether any formal charges had been preferred.
Amongi, the Uganda People’s Congress (UPC) candidate in the race, said she was alerted to logistical failures shortly after voting, claiming that several polling stations in Lira City East Division lacked voting materials by mid-morning.
She also criticised police deployment at polling centres, questioning officers’ capacity to manage disturbances effectively.
“The police we have in the system are constables who are not armed and are not able to stop any of this,” Amongi said.
Dr Aceng, the incumbent Woman MP and National Resistance Movement (NRM) candidate, alleged that Amongi and her husband, Jimmy James Michael Akena, were moving between polling stations canvassing for votes in violation of electoral law.
“She and her husband are moving around campaigning from polling station to polling station. I have brought this to the attention of the returning officer and I hope something will be done about it,” Aceng said.
Ugandan electoral regulations prohibit campaigning on polling day, a provision intended to safeguard voter choice and prevent undue influence.
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Dr Aceng criticised police for what she described as a failure to enforce the law.
“As far as I know, campaigning on the day of voting is not allowed, but the fact that police allows her to move and campaign is very unfortunate,” she added.
The confrontation underscores the political intensity in Lira City, a historic stronghold of opposition politics and a symbolic battleground between the ruling NRM and the opposition-leaning UPC.
By publication time, the Electoral Commission (EC), Uganda Police Force, and the UPDF had not issued formal statements clarifying the security operation or responding directly to the competing claims by the two cabinet ministers.
