Okello finally wins Bardege-Layibi mayoral seat on fourth attempt

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As the adage goes: Victory is always possible for the person who refuses to stop fighting', Patrick Okello never gave up, even after attempting success at becoming a municipal mayor and failing three times.

Okello, who has been flying the National Resistance Movement (NRM) party flag in the election that climaxed yesterday, January 27, 2026, is now Gulu City's Bardege-Layibi division mayor-elect.

His campaign team is now on cloud nine, celebrating Okello's victory after three unsuccessful past attempts.

The National Electoral Commission declared Okello the winner of the position this January 28 morning, with a large margin over three other candidates

Gulu City Electoral Commission returning officer Mike Jjuuko declared that Okello garnered 5,489 votes, while Democratic Party candidate Fred Ngomokwe got 1,756 votes cast. He said Yasinto Oyat, an Independent candidate, polled 1,281 votes, while David Onencan collected 866 votes.

Declaration Form for Bardege-Layibi Division, where NRM's Okello was declared a winner. (Photo by Rosemary Anena)

"Accordingly, as returning officer of Gulu city electoral district and in accordance with section 147 of the local government act cap 138, I declare Okello Patrick, who has obtained the largest number of votes, to be the elected candidate for Bar Dege Layibi Division electoral area, Gulu City electoral district,” Jjuuko declared at about 2:00am.

Okello’s ascent to the position comes from a long political struggle, having contested twice in the municipality division and once following the creation of the Northern Uganda city. Popularly known as “Sukari,” he will work with a council of 31 councillors.

Outgoing division mayor Patrick Oola Lumumba won the seat in 2021 under the ticket of the Opposition Forum for Democratic Change party. He opted not to contest in the 2026 General Election, effectively handing the mantle to his deputy, Yasinto Oyat, who contested as an Independent.

Opening new roads

Okello said his priorities include opening more new roads with compensation for affected persons, improving education standards and constructing a public toilet to improve public health in the division and Gulu City at large.

Since Gulu Municipality attained city status in July 2020, Bardege-Layibi Division has struggled with low revenue collection despite the introduction of the Integrated Revenue Administrative System (IRAS), widely touted as a game changer in curing revenue leakages at the collection point.

In the 2025/2026 financial year, the division projected its locally raised revenue to top sh2.9 billion, with about sh469 million already collected by January 2026.

Felix Adonyo, the Division Secretary of Finance and the councillor IV elect of Kanyangoga ward, told Radio Rupiny that curing the revenue leakages should be the top priority of the council alongside diversifying the sources of revenue.

“Bardege-Layibi has not owned any road equipment for the last five years, which is why our roads are in poor condition. In this new government, we shall only open roads where there is a component of compensation because land within the city is very expensive. On revenue, we want to boost locally generated revenue by tapping into sources like the tuk-tuk business and quarry work in Bardege.”

Meanwhile, Joyce Akwero, a resident of Bardege-Layibi Division, urged the newly elected mayor to address the challenges of access roads. She noted that some residents who have bought land or constructed homes are forced to pay their neighbours to access their property.

“The new mayor should help us develop access roads within the community. Some people have bought land but cannot access their homes unless they pay money to their neighbours. I request that he work with the government to help us get proper access roads.