Minister Amongi carries UPC flag in quest to unseat Aceng from Lira city
Speaking shortly after her nomination, Amongi said she was ready to carry the party’s flag and reconnect with the grassroots.
Betty Among, the Minister of Gender, Labour and Social development was nominated at the UPC headquarters in Kampala 15 July, 2025. (Photos by Wilfred Sanya)
By Ibrahim Ruhweza and Ruth Kyarisiima
Journalists @New Vision
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Gender minister Betty Amongi has been nominated to contest for the Lira city Member of Parliament (MP) on the Uganda People’s Congress (UPC) flag.
Amongi, who is the incumbent Oyam South MP, officially declared her intention to contest for the Lira City Woman MP seat in the 2026 general election, a position currently held by health minister Dr Jane Ruth Aceng, on July 15, 2025. Aceng subscribes to the National Resistance Movement (NRM) party.
This was after she picked up the nomination forms from the UPC headquarters at the Uganda House in Kampala city, where she was welcomed by party officials and a crowd of jubilant supporters.
She now becomes the leading contender to represent UPC in a constituency that has long been considered a stronghold for the party.
Her nomination is seen as a strategic move to consolidate support in the north and revitalise UPC's presence on the national political stage.
Amongi now anticipates to outshine health minister Jane Ruth Aceng for the Member of Parliament seat.
Speaking shortly after her nomination, Amongi said she was ready to carry the party’s flag and reconnect with the grassroots.
“This is not just about elections; it is about restoring UPC’s historical role in shaping Uganda’s future,” she said.
Among echoed the words of UPC founder and former Uganda President Dr Apollo Milton Obote, “The biggest of us all, the richest of us all, and perhaps the most highly educated of us all, cannot stand without the support of the common man.”
“Therefore, I stand here today in the footsteps of our founder president to carry the mantle of the ideology of our party, an ideology based on tackling the plight of the common. I seek this election to serve the common people of lira city,” she said.
Asked how ready she is to battle Aceng, she said 'at the moment, the political seat is empty, and so the one voted in will be the one to take it'.
“I’m not going to face anybody; I’m just going to represent the people once people vote for me. People will vote for the person they want,” she said.
She is optimistic that the win belongs to her, noting that it was the best to return to where her husband, Jimmy Akena, belongs. Akena is Obote's son and the incumbent UPC party president.