|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
In 2021, Dr. Aceng shifted her focus from her consistently illustrious technical work to politics, setting her sights on the Lira Woman MP seat. It had always been her dream to return to serve the people who nurtured her as a child and later as a professional. However, it was a bold move—one that many deemed impossible.
A staunch NRM member, she was challenging the incumbent, Hon. Joy Ongom of the Uganda People’s Congress (UPC), in a region where UPC had long held dominance. Family, friends, and foes alike expressed their disdain. Detractors labeled her weak, inexperienced, aloof, and out of touch with the grassroots.
Opponents sought to discredit her, launching vicious attacks on her character and even making claims about her health—hence the now-infamous photographs frequently circulated by Hon Betty Amongi’s camp, currently used to mock and belittle Dr Aceng They accused her of corruption, dredging up baseless allegations, including claims about the loss of drugs from Lira District stores.
Yet, she was quickly exonerated, as the accusations were nothing more than political smokescreens. Ironically, those leading the attacks were the very individuals with vested interests. Dr Aceng had stepped on powerful toes when she protected Lira Regional Referral Hospital land from grabbers—a move that has since proven to be a masterstroke, as the hospital now undergoes rapid expansion to meet the growing demands of Lira City.
Now, Honorable Dr. Aceng faces an even greater challenge— a true Goliath—boastful and loud— in the form of Honorable Betty Amongi. Considered by some as a seasoned politician, a self-proclaimed lawyer, and a so-called “political doctor,” Amongi is a chameleon who has mastered the art of switching allegiances whenever it suits her ambitions.
In 2016, when she was proposed for appointment as Minister of Lands alongside Hon. Joy Ruth Aceng for Minister of State for Fisheries, she faced stiff opposition from UPC stalwarts like Hon. Jonathan Odur and the late Hon. Charles Angiro Gutumoi.
However, Amongi managed to slip through, thanks to her marriage to Hon. Jimmy Akena, son of UPC’s founder, Dr. Apolo Milton Obote. This connection solidified her place, while Hon. Joy Ruth Aceng was swiftly cast aside.
Today, Amongi is once again using her husband’s influence and the lingering nostalgia for UPC to tighten her grip on the people of Lango. To UPC, power is not merely a political privilege—it is a carefully controlled inheritance. Those who dare to challenge its unwritten rules are met with hostility, slander, and political sabotage, just as the late Hon. Cecilia Ogwal painfully discovered.
But Betty Amongi is not just a political Goliath—she is a financial one as well. She has openly boasted about her war chest, claiming that she will “unleash her financial temper” on the people of Lira City.
While appearing on Lira’s Unity FM, she bragged about intending to spend 4Billiion Uganda shillings in unseating Hon. Aceng and making the latter’s contributions seem like mere “chicken feed.”
With 25 years in Parliament, she considers herself untouchable and entitled, determined to use her experience and resources to bulldoze her way to victory. She has abandoned the people of Oyam where she is still in the 4th year as their MP for Oyam South, and like a marauding beast, is pre-campaign trampling on Dr.Aceng’s political space in Lira City.
She weaponizes old UPC sentiments, banking on her marriage to the Obote dynasty to rally votes. In moments of exasperation, she does not hesitate to hurl insults—even on live radio—mocking Dr. Aceng and disparaging the women of Lango.
The people of Apac and Oyam districts are quick to tell of having gained close to nothing from associating with Hon Betty Amongi for 25 years, except lies, deception and shame laden reports of scandal after scandal on the national stage.
Yet, history has shown that the people of Lango do not forget and can’t be fooled. They have always rejected those who mock, revile, and are deceitful. Just as they stood by Dr. Aceng when she was belittled and called frail in 2021, so too they will resist Amongi’s insults and the divisive rhetoric of her small band of rowdy followers—Acup, Angulu, Adan, Ceaser Okello, Allan, Oboke Apuru et al.
The battle lines are drawn. History will repeat itself. Dr. Aceng, like the biblical David, maybe lean but sharp and willing to fight for the needs of her people. She will defy the assumed odds against the political Goliath that is mean, “not lean” and lost in greed!
If you have a story in your community or an opinion article, let’s publish it. Send us an email via ultimatenews19@gmail.com
