Nine nominated for Lira city mayoral seat

LIRA - A woman is among the nine candidates cleared to contest for the Lira city mayoral seat in the 2026 General Election.

The Electoral Commission (EC) concluded a three-day local government council candidates' nomination exercise on Friday, September 3, 2025.

The exercise presented a packed field that includes incumbent mayor Sam Atul of the NRM, Opposition party flag-bearers, and a strong line-up of independents.

Those nominated to stand against are 

1. Sarah Awor Angweri (Independent).

2. Patrick Opige (Independent).

3. Romanus Hannie Okello (Independent).

4. Henry Opio Ogenyi (Independent).

5. George Okello Ayo (Independent).

6. Patrick Ogwang alias Med Mac (National Unity Platform).

7. Fred Obote (Forum for Democratic Change).

8. Sam Atul (National Resistance Movement) NRM.

9. Mike Ogwang Olwa (Uganda People's Congress) UPC, who is a former mayor defeated by Sam Atul in the 2021 General Election.

Sarah Awor Angweri, the only female in the race for the Lira Mayor seat, receives her nomination papers from the Returning Officer James Aggrey Ipeto soon after she was declared duly nominated on Friday. (Credit: Hudson Apunyo)

Awor, the only female contender, is the current Female Workers’ Representative in the city council. 

Okello is a former councillor of the old Lira district, while Ogenyi lost the NRM primaries to Atul. 

Ogwang previously contested in the UPC primaries for Amolatar LC5 chairperson and lost, while Okello Ayo, the current Mayor of Lira City East Division, was defeated in the UPC primaries for MP Lira City East. Obote is a businessman in Lira City.

James Aggrey Ipeto, the Returning Officer for Lira City, said all 11 categories of elective positions attracted candidates and none will go unopposed.

“For mayor, we received nine applications from NRM, UPC, FDC, NUP and five independents. In total, 53 candidates have been nominated across all positions,” Ipeto said.

Party representation stood at: NRM (15), UPC (13), FDC (2), NUP (1), PPF (1), and 21 independents.

Youth nomination row

The exercise was not without controversy. Moses Odongo, the incumbent youth councillor for Lira City East Division, stormed out of the nomination centre after he was blocked from contesting as city youth councillor.

Odongo accused the Commission of bias, claiming that other aspirants who did not meet the requirements had been cleared.

“I have followed all procedures, and my papers were approved by a lawyer, but I was told I am not among the 18 delegates who qualify to contest at city level. Yet some of those nominated did not even pass the parish level,” he said.

The Returning Officer clarified that youth nominations were restricted to members of the electoral college.

“Most of those who came for nominations were rejected by the system because they lacked the

The campaigns are expected to draw intense competition, particularly between the incumbent and independents who once held influential positions in the city.

Fred Obote of (FDC) was also nominated for the Lira City mayor seat. (Credit: Hudson Apunyo)

The election roadmap

Nomination of local government council candidates started on September 3, 2025, across the country with the Electoral Commission encouraging aspirants to pre-register online via https://candidate.ec.or.ug before presenting themselves for nomination.

The commission, which says the exercise will run till September 24, 2025, has also compartmentalised the nominations, as seen below:

• District/city chairpersons, Lord Mayor and councillors (September 3-5, 2025)

• Municipality/city division chairpersons and councillors (September 8-10, 2025)

• Municipal division chairpersons and councillors (September 11-24, 2025)

• Sub-county and town chairpersons and councillors (September 23-24, 2025)

• Presidential (September 23-24, 2025)

• Directly elected members of Parliament (October 15-16, 2025)

Nominations run on weekdays, 9:00am–5:00pm, at designated council venues.