Opposition Iron Lady Dispels Rumours of Defection to NRM

Gulu City Woman Member of Parliament Betty Aol Ocan has firmly reiterated her allegiance to the opposition, dispelling rumors suggesting she might defect to the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party ahead of the 2026 general election. 

The clarification comes after her recent meeting with President Yoweri Museveni at the State House in Entebbe, where she was accompanied by other opposition legislators from the Acholi Sub-region.

Aol says her visit, along with other legislators, was one of the strategies they initiated to ensure the sub-region is lifted from its current status. She denied that the visit was to lay plans for defecting but rather to present a memorandum concerning the Acholi sub-region to the President.

Aol said, despite participating in the meeting that is in the interest of the Acholi people, she has no interest in leaving her party, the People’s Front for Freedom (PFF), a breakaway faction of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party. She noted that it wasn’t the first time she had visited the State House and met with President Museveni, arguing that Museveni remains a president for every Ugandan and meeting him shouldn’t be viewed otherwise.

According to Aol, in case she intends to cross to the ruling NRM party, she will first consult her constituents before making a decision. Gilbert Olanya, the Kilak South Member of Parliament, a Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party member, equally distanced himself from joining the NRM party despite joining his colleagues from the region in working closely with the government.

Olanya didn’t attend the meeting but noted that they initiated the idea of coming together as opposition legislators from the region working with the government after analyzing the dire state of land conflicts, poverty, and delayed compensation in the region.

Notable during the March 13 meeting at the State House Entebbe were Martin Ojara Mapenduzi, Bardege-Layibi Division legislator, and Kilak North legislator Anthony Akol, who all recently crossed to the NRM party. Others were Santa Okot, Aruu North legislator, Chua West MP Okin PP Ojara, and Lucy Akello, Amuru Woman legislator, among others.

At least 10 legislators from the sub-region subscribing to the opposition last year formed a platform dubbed ‘Operation Harmony’, in which they chose to set aside their political differences in a bid to work with the government in the interest of developing the Acholi Sub-region.

Key issues the legislators agreed on and presented to the President during their meeting included concerns on the delayed cattle compensation, the need for a robust transitional justice framework, management of land conflict, addressing poverty, collapsing education, and the health sector, among others.