By Mulengera Reporters
Jubilations rocked several times in West Moyo in Moyo district on Monday as area residents came together in small groups to ululate and jubilate over their son Dr. Charles Lagul’s nomination by NRM EC Chairman Dr. Tanga Odoi flagging him off to officially begin canvasing for votes to become the new Moyo West MP.
Lagul, one of the most successful professional scientists West Nile has ever produced and exported to Kampala to serve Uganda at the national level, is seeking to replace little-known Tom Aza Aleru has been occupying for more than one terms.
The incumbent Aleru is resented by voters over several grievances including those relating to being an obscure legislator who has failed to be outspoken and thereby making their area famous or known in Kampala, and also for situating many of his personal development projects like schools in Arua City as opposed to prioritizing job creation for his voters in West Moyo.
Dr. Lagul’s decision to come to the West Moyo race has inspired many other sons and daughters of Moyo, comfortably serving from corporate and professional jobs, to consider becoming civically more interested in the governance affairs of their native community. On Monday, some of the supporters escorted Lagul to NRM EC National headquarters in Kampala along Kyadondo Road in Nakasero.
While there, Lagul who was escorted by chanting supporters, was received by Dr. Tanga Odoi whose elections staff went ahead to verify his documentation whereafter he was cleared to go and romp in West Moyo. The West Moyo one remains a two-man race namely between Dr. Lagul and Aleru. It’s largely an NRM stronghold where the opposition doesn’t stand much chance. This implies that whoever wins the NRM race is more less good to go.
After interacting with NRM EC nomination officials in Kampala, Dr. Lagul spoke to reporters and promised to usher in a brand of leadership that is revolutionary and more inspiring than what Aleru has been offering. “I will legislate and represent my voters in a manner that will make the people of West Moyo, my party the NRM and the whole of Uganda proud,” Dr. Lagul bragged vowing to drown his opponents into a sea of his supporters both in NRM primaries and general elections.
THE LONGER STORY: The story of Lagul’s entry into West Moyo MP race was first reported by sections of the online media recently as follows: Dr. Charles Lagul, the former NAGRC & DB Executive Director in whose favor the DPP recently unconditionally dropped all criminal charges, is on his way back up again.
What started last December as a casual affair has, 6 months later, metamorphosed into something real big politically speaking. He came under a lot of pressure from fellow West Moyo residents and opinion leaders who demanded that he stands for MP Seat and rescue them from long-serving area MP Tom Aza Aleru’s inconsequential representation.
It was then that Lagul, a very popular son of West Nile, began active mobilization which saw him mobilize area residents into socio-economic transformation activities besides attending other community engagements. Lagul’s mobilization instigated several Councilors, Town Council mayors and LC3 Chairpersons from the 10 Sub Counties to defect from being Aleru’s supporters into his camp.
It’s with these that a pro-Lagul political coalition has since emerged in West Moyo and it comprises of all the leaders who matter in this Ugandan border district with exception of some few such as LC5 Chairman Williams Anyama.
State Minister for Education Joyce Moriku Kaducu also hails from West Moyo district where she has been MP for the last 10 years. But so far, Moriku, who is seeking reelection, has refused to get drawn into the Lagul vs. Aleru political battles. She has preferred to mind her own business as the rest take sides.
Members of the pro-Lagul coalition swept most of the elective positions in the NRM structures elections last week and even Lagul himself was elected unopposed for the position of NRM entrepreneurs league Vice Chairman for the district. His Chairman is Emanuel Legu, a businessman in Moyo Town Council.
Located 650kms from Kampala, and bordering South Sudan, Moyo is one of the farthest districts of Uganda from Kampala. And people’s major economic activities include fishing because they have a lot of River Nile there, simsim growing and groundnuts growing. It’s also Uganda’s biggest producer of mangoes, much of it is exported and cheaply sold to exploitative middle men in Kampala.
Greater Moyo, which gave birth to districts like Obongi and Adjumani, has the likes of Kaps Fungaroo, ex-Obote II Minister Dr. Moses Apiliga, Gen Philip Idro and Gen Moses Ali as some of the biggest exports to the national political scene.
Lagul says that he has come to give a voice to West Moyo, a constituency he says has a lot of potential except that Aleru’s leadership has been inept characterized by a legislator who is obscure and not outspoken in the National Assembly. He promises to leverage the networks he has built over the years to lobby for better services delivery for his people.
He is also promising to lobby leaders in Kampala to ensure that funding infrastructure programs for West Moyo is prioritized. He says the district currently has problems of very bad roads, a matter he intends to use the platform that comes with being area MP to be very outspoken about.
He thanks NWSC for the water supply in the Town Council and intends to do more to ensure that even the electricity supply for Moyo is amplified because it’s currently on and off. Moyo is predominantly Catholic and all key leaders including Lagul himself are Catholics. The same applies to Aleru and even Kaducu.
What is clear is that, having been area MP for three consecutive terms since 2011, Aleru will struggle to convince voters that he remains the best thing for West Moyo. Majority voters are young people who were barely 5 years when he first became MP and are genuinely fatigued towards Aleru’s perpetual incumbency.
There are three term incumbents like Semujju Nganda who have performed, been outspoken and made their voters proud. Aleru doesn’t fall in that category. Voters are frustrated and aggrieved that their MP is one of the least known faces in Kampala at Parliament which has been his place of work for the last 15 years.
There are also concerns that in the last 15 years, Aleru embarked on construction of several churches in the different Sub Counties yet, in the last 15 years, none of them has ever been completed.
Some voters are angry and envious that the stinking rich Aleru has a lot of investments but all of which are in Arua City, which is roughly 100 kms away, as opposed to investing in and developing Moyo Town Council. He also owns a big secondary school in Arua City.
Being an NRM stronghold with no opposition to write home about, West Moyo is one constituency that becomes a sure deal for whoever wins the NRM flag. And the prospect of the impending defeat has tormented Hon Aleru so much to the extent that he has lost weight and is growing thinner every passing day.
Those close to him say that he has lately become very paranoid and quarrelsome which was never the case before Lagul came into the picture to challenge him for the MP Seat. In 2026, Tom Aza Alero won with 14,316 votes beating three others who included Jimmy Vukoni Okudi (7,403), Christopher Vunni Draiko (2,701) and Mike Manzu Robinson (560). (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
