As I predicted three weeks ago, Hon. Jimmy Awany Cingmalo, former chairman of LC3 of Adyel Division, then Lira Municipality, is proving to be the black swan in Lira City West Constituency.
For those unfamiliar with black swan events, here is a brief explanation:
Almost all swans (okok) are white. Many people say all swans are white but in rare possibilities, there comes a black swan that upends conventional thinking. So was Cingmalo.
He was the campaign manager of Lira City West MP, Sedrick Obong Eyit, in the 2021 Uganda national elections. No one thought Awany Cingmalo could challenge his former boss. He kept his cards close to his chest, knowing he held the ace of spades (ayie odeng for card-playing readers).
Patient as a leopard, Cingmalo waited, silent in his lair. He let the noisy political parties’ nominations proceed without a peep from his camp.
The big guns of Lira City West went about their business, oblivious to the fact that Awany Cingmalo was the X-factor in the political equation.
Then, at the eleventh hour, Awany dropped a bombshell: he’s vying for Member of Parliament in Lira City West! The political talking heads were aghast. They thought they had the lay of the land figured out, but Cingmalo upended everything.
Jimmy Awany Cingmalo cut his teeth in politics as a firebrand youth leader and later as Chairman of Adyel Division. A beloved mobilizer, Cingmalo played a pivotal role in Hon. Sedrick Obong Eyit’s victory in the 2021 elections. Now, the midwife has come to claim his baby.
Awany Cingmalo is a street fighter. A school dropout who recognised the academic requirements for elective office, he returned to school, starting from O-level. Now pursuing a bachelor’s degree, Awany has cleared the minimum legal hurdle for candidacy.
Disgruntled by the nauseating nepotism in the UPC, Awany is openly supporting Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng Ocero, the Minister of Health and Woman Member of Parliament for Lira City.
It’s worth recalling that Dr. Jane backed Atul Sam, an independent candidate for Lira City in the 2021 elections, against the official NRM flagbearer, Willy Omodo Omodo, the charismatic speaker of the Lango Cultural Institution.
With the block vote Awany commands, Dr. Jane will likely put her money on him against the relatively unknown Ogweng Eddy Morris, the NRM flagbearer for Lira City West. Who can resist Cingmalo’s Churchillian charm?
Ladies and gentlemen, mark my words: Awany Cingmalo will deliver the first upset in Lira City, clinching the Lira City West Constituency!
The writer watches political and social affairs in the Lango sub-region.
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