Lira City: The failure of defiance politics

By Odongo Lango, Aspirant for NRM Publicity Secretary, Lira City

A new wave of politicians in Lira City has embraced defiance politics, a strategy that first emerged in Uganda in April 2011. At the time, Uganda faced rising inflation and escalating commodity prices, prompting protests inspired by the Arab Spring in Tunisia and Egypt.

The opposition leader at the time, now-incarcerated Col. Dr. Kizza Besigye, introduced the “walk-to-work” movement, claiming it was the appropriate solution to Uganda’s economic struggles.

However, the movement relied on public disruption and civil disobedience to provoke unrest against the ruling party. Its ultimate aim—though unspoken—was to overthrow the government, similar to what had unfolded in parts of North Africa.

What its architects failed to consider, however, was Uganda’s strong food security. Most citizens grow their own food and eat three square meals a day.

A well-fed man has little incentive to march and chant in the streets when he could instead rest under his mango tree, digesting peacefully.

The protests quickly lost momentum and have since faded into history, a mere footnote of Uganda’s past.

Yet, to my surprise, defiance politics has found new champions in Lira City, individuals who have taken up the cause with a self-righteous attitude. Leading the charge is Okello Daniel, Speaker of Lira City West Division, alongside Sarah Awor Angweri, the workers’ representative at City Hall.

Speaker Okello’s tenure has been marred by controversy. His actions significantly disrupted business in Lira City West, leading to immense stress for the former chairman, Michael Ogwal Achonga, who eventually succumbed to related ailments.

Perhaps his most infamous act was instigating a chaotic brawl during a council meeting—a moment that cemented his reputation for ineptitude. If there were a gold medal for political incompetence, Okello would win it effortlessly.

Meanwhile, Sarah Awor Angweri has made her name through relentless verbal attacks, sparing no one in her weekly press conferences.

Rather than focusing on effective legislation, she has adopted a scorched-earth approach, targeting figures such as Mayor Sam Atul and, more recently, RCC Lawrence Egole—the impeccably dressed presidential representative—and Minister of Health Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng, an internationally respected public health expert.

Angweri proudly claims to be a fearless advocate for her constituents, but she fails to distinguish fearlessness from recklessness. Her confrontational style mirrors the fugitive Uganda Law Society President Isaac Kimaze Ssemakadde, yet she has learned little from his troubles.

In a stunning display of defiance, Angweri dismissed the National Resistance Movement’s (NRM) open voting method as “primitive” and implied that the NRM Central Executive Committee was foolish to endorse it.

One would think that after four years in council, she would have learned the value of decorum and measured speech—but alas, old habits die hard. Respectful dialogue is simply not in her vocabulary.

And then came the reckoning.  

As NRM held its village primaries on May 6, 2025, the people—the villagers, as Tanga Odoi affectionately calls them—made their voices heard. The defiant politicians arrived at their polling stations only to face a rude awakening.

Voters delivered a brutal political reality check, figuratively leaving blood on the floor. The champions of defiance politics in Lira City were overwhelmingly defeated.

True to form, rather than accepting their fate, they swiftly pointed fingers at Minister Aceng and RCC Egole. Perhaps they should have first reflected on William Shakespeare’s wisdom in Julius Caesar:

The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars. But in ourselves, that we are underlings

Self-examination may have helped them understand their downfall, but introspection has never been their strong suit.

In the end, life is about choices. As the old saying goes: “We are born looking like our parents, but we die looking like our decisions.”