By Mulengera Reporters
Moses Okori chairs the very influential Lira Boda Riders Association (LUMBA) besides the fact that until not very long ago, he was the personal driver for UPC President Jimmy Akena.
He is a mobilizer of great influence in Lira City where his LUMBA has more than 10,000 enrolled members-mostly commercial Boda Boda riders who also have other dependents like wives and market vendors with whom they have close business partnerships. This has always given Okori, who founded LUMBA in 2011, great influence and kingmaker status each time there are elections in Lira City.
In a recent interview, Okori revealed to Mulengera News why he has since abandoned Akena even when he had been a Congressman his entire life since he was born. He explained that he made personal sacrifice when he abandoned his private businesses and work at LUMBA offices to avail himself to drive Akena throughout the 2021 campaigns without charging him any money. Video link to full interview here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqDIAR1PTBI.
But what happened subsequently revealed the extent to which Minister Betty Amongi’s husband Jimmy Akena (Lira Municipality MP since 2006) was such a very ungrateful politician. That, having taken his loyalty to UPC for granted, Akena wanted to dictate for Okori people to support on the different elective positions beyond his own Lira City East MP Seat.
“He was very furious to learn that, even when I was his driver, on the Lira City Woman slot I wasn’t supporting his Candidate Joy Otim who was the UPC flag bearer. I knew Joy and how useless she was for the City’s future development. I one time approached her as the Chairman LUMBA requesting her to use her MP office to help us link up with some financial institutions in Kampala to fund our new members to acquire their own motorcycles after the other owners insisted on Shs50,000 per week which was too much and exploitative to our members. She never helped and wondered how I expected her to take such a risk of guaranteeing riders to get their own bikes on loan from the banks where she had to be our guarantor,” explained Okori.
“That’s when I realized she can’t bring any development for Lira. So, when Dr. Jane Aceng came up to stand in 2020, I felt that God had finally remembered us in Lira City. Many of us LUMBA members had seen and grown up appreciating her work as the Director Lira Hospital many years before anyone would imagine her joining elective politics. When she declared in 2020, many of us were excited and felt God had answered our prayers. The least we could do was to rally behind her. This had to happen regardless of whether we were NRM or not. In my case I was still UPC at that time but couldn’t afford not canvassing support for her.”
Okori says that, whereas he had been clandestinely mobilizing for Aceng fearing to annoy his Principal Jimmy Akena for whom he was serving as Personal Driver, two days to voting day he ended his covert operations when he addressed reporters in Lira City calling on all his LUMBA members to turn and vote for Aceng while shunning Joy Atim Ongom.
“Hon Joy was so angry she started crying saying I was such a very bad person who was going to cost UPC that seat given my influence in Lira City. She went to Akena’s home and told him see what your man Moses is doing to me.” Okori says Akena was equally furious on hearing the news on radio. He rang him seeking to understand what was going on.
“They agreed to summon me to Akena’s home after Hon Jimmy failed to convince me to address reporters again retracting my support for Dr. Aceng while calling on my members to vote for Joy. As I prepared to go to his home for the meeting, one of my insiders warned that if I go there, I’m going to be harmed. A large group had gathered waiting to beat me up very badly which would have led to my death. They branded me a traitor and things were so hot for me that not only did I skip the meeting but also fled Lira to hide in Kampala for some time.” That he only returned to Lira after being sure that tempers had calmed down but the Jimmy Akena relationship was irretrievably gone.
Akena had taken the LUMBA executive to Kampala and introduced them to then ED PostBank Alex Kayayo and others who processed a funding relationship with them through which hundreds of LUMBA members were funded and enabled to purchase and become owners of new motorcycles. Akena surrendered the title for his Bwebajja property to serve as security since he had signed up to become the guarantor for the funding and the Boda acquisition loans.
Following the 2021 elections fallout, Akena who had backed them since 2016 withdrew from the deal and actually wrote to PostBank terminating the whole thing. Indeed, no one was able to access any PBU funding anymore after that. The bank turned it’s back on LUMBA, a dilemma Okori shared with Aceng who by that time had won the race to become the pioneer Lira City Woman MP.
“I explained to her everything and how we had been moving on well with PostBank as all members who took out the loans paid back the money [Shs50,000 per week and Shs200 000 per month] and on time. She is our good Mama and said it’s okay we can have that revived through another bank and that’s how we ended up going to Housing Finance Bank which has done equally well,” said Okori making it clear that Aceng’s large heart has made him accept joining NRM having called it quits with UPC. He says Akena has made efforts to mend fences but it’s too late.
“Our good work which the UPCs had always taken for granted has since been recognized and taken note of by the President of Uganda who I met with in Barilege State Lodge and extended more support to us. He is very appreciative of our approach. We have grown to the level of being able to give modest loans to women groups operating in Lira market who are now our close allies. Even without being UPC, LUMBA is destined to grow even more. This is why it’s doubtable that Jimmy Akena can still win reelection in Lira City without us. We have moved on and are all NRM.”
Towards the end of the interview, we asked Okori what he thinks about Minister Betty Amongi’s decision to abandon Oyam for Lira City come 2026. And this is how he answered: “Even when I have told you that we as LUMBA members like President Museveni very much, it doesn’t mean whoever serves in his Cabinet becomes our person. For that Lira City Woman MP position, Dr. Aceng is our person and that’s not negotiable. I don’t see how Lira City voters are going to ever give their votes to Betty Amongi the moment LUMBA gets out to demobilize her. Voters are angry with the way her husband pulled out and blocked funding from PostBank. And mind you behind the 10,000 duly enrolled LUMBA members are our wives and others who depend on us like the partners in Lira market whose merchandise we transport besides the small loans we keep giving out to them.”
On his part, Akena remains angry and castigates Aceng for playing politics in a way that has ended up creating a wedge between him and 1000s of Boda riders who he claims to have supported into acquiring their own motorcycles on very favorable credit terms. He says Aceng has actually financially destroyed the future of many young people in LUMBA who he claims may never be permitted to borrow again since many banks will consider them uncredit worthy. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
