Ex-Arua RDC and President's Lugbara translator Oyaa Awua dead

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The former Resident District Commissioner of Arua district, Nahori Oyaa Awua, has passed away.

Oyaa, a senior National Resistance Movement (NRM) cadre and one of President Yoweri Museveni’s most trusted translators during rallies in the West Nile region, died on December 8, 2025, at Mulago National Referral Hospital.

Patricia Lenia, one of Oyaa’s children, confirmed his passing at Mulago, where he had been receiving treatment for long-standing complications related to high blood pressure and diabetes. She said the body remained at Mulago as the family arranged transport to Arua.

“My father was referred to Mulago from Arua Regional Referral Hospital about two weeks ago for further management, including amputation, which was done successfully last Friday, December 5, 2025. However, he could not live any longer because his health deteriorated shortly after the medical procedure was conducted,” Lenia explained.

Oyaa served as RDC of Arua district prior to the area attaining city status on July 1, 2020. Following the transition, he became the first resident city commissioner for Arua city. During the height of the Covid-19 outbreak in 2020 and 2022, he chaired the local Covid-19 task force.

He was also known for promoting the use of quality seeds to advance commercial farming and for advocating research-based approaches in addressing gender-based violence.

Former Arua RDC Peter Debele described Oyaa as a senior cadre personally recruited into the Movement by President Museveni in the 1980s, and one who served faithfully throughout his career. He said that both he and Oyaa served in the Presidential Protocol Unit before Oyaa was later transferred to Jinja for special assignments by the President.

Before his retirement in 2022, Oyaa served in several districts, including Kole, Kayunga, Adjumani, Maracha, Arua city and later Arua district, which became his final duty station.

John Tutu, a promoter of Lugbara culture in the West Nile subregion, said he remembers Oyaa for his passion for advancing Lugbara traditions.

The prime minister of the Aringa kingdom, Lemeriga Fadhil, described the late Oyaa as the longest-serving county chief in Aringa County in the 1980s and 1990s.

“There were songs which were composed to praise him for the great job he did in Aringa. He was a jolly man, and most importantly he (Oyaa) knew the history of West Nile very well for the past 100 years. Nahori was also influential in promoting the Lugbara cultural institution and always desired in uniting the Lugbara chiefdom,” Lemeriga said in tribute.

Former Ayivu County MP Bernard Atiku said Nahori Oyaa Awua was a distinguished elder who served at various levels, including county chief of Ayivu County and RDC in several districts, before retiring as the first RCC of Arua city.

He noted that Oyaa had been a living archive of the Ayivu clan and the broader Lugbara community in West Nile and in parts of eastern DR Congo.

“Mzee Nahor has been a symbol of unity, peace and love in the community. In all positions he served with humility and a clean record of high integrity”, Atiku said.

He added that Oyaa will be remembered as the unrivalled translator of English into the Lugbara dialect for President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni during key regional engagements.