Moroto County MP Hopeful Opio Elia Joins UPC

By Gloria  Aceng

Alebtong - Uganda: Denis Opio Elia, a vibrant and youthful NRM leaning politician who in the 2021 elections contested in Moroto county Mp elections (on independent ticket) has finally crossed to UPC a head of 2026 general election.

Opio Elia who contested and lost in 2021 election says he arrived at this bold decision after a careful consideration of the political direction not only in Moroto but also considering the UPC wave that is currently sweeping the greater North.

While addressing the media in Lira City over the weekend, Mr. Opio stated that after consultation with electorates he is convinced without any iota of doubt that he has made the right choice and will be victorious come 2026 General elections. 

There is a new wave of UPC in Lango after the party's victory in the just concluded Dokolo Woman Member of Parliament by-election, which is UPC's second victory in less that a year. In July 2023, UPC's Dr. Eunice Apio Otuku won the Oyam North By-election beating NRM's Samuel Engola Okello and two other candidates.

The UPC party president, also Lira City member of parliament Hon. Jimmy James Michael Akena is beginning to be a big influence in the Lango Sub-region's politics.

Opio finds favour in the hearts of many voters in Moroto for various reasons among them the fact that his father, the late Hon David Onyok Etuku was also a renowned politician and a leader  who was among  the eminent and a prominent gallant sons and daughters of Lango in the Constituent Assembly (CA) representing Moroto county and was subsequently Moroto's legislator in the  6th parliament.

His father, late David Onyok Etuku was a brother to John Gideon Okello, a Ugandan revolutionary and leader of the Zanzibar Revolution in 1964. Field Marshal John Gideon Okello (RIP) gained fame in Africa  after liberating black people of Zanzibar against the ruthless and brutal leadership of the Arab settlers at that time.

Late John Gideon Okello hails from Okut Village , Alebtong parish, Aloi Subcounty in Alebtong District, northern part of Uganda.