Newly elected MP, James Leku Pilli receives a copy of the Constitution from Speaker Oboth after taking oath on Tuesday, 29 September 2026
By Joseph Kiggundu
James Leku Pilli has been sworn in as the new Member of Parliament for Adjumani West County, replacing the late Gen. (Rtd) Moses Ali.
Leku took the oath of allegiance and the oath of Member of Parliament before Speaker Jacob Marksons Oboth during a sitting of the House.
His swearing-in brings the number of elected legislators in the 12th Parliament to 529, in addition to 24 ex-officio members serving as ministers and ministers of state.
Speaker Oboth welcomed Leku to Parliament and presented him with copies of the Constitution of Uganda and the Rules of Procedure of Parliament.
Leku, who contested the seat on the National Resistance Movement (NRM) ticket, won the Adjumani West by-election held on September 17, 2026.
He secured 12,423 votes out of the 14,982 votes cast, defeating his sole challenger, independent candidate Draga Gasper, who obtained 2,559 votes.
Before joining Parliament, Leku served as Chairperson of Adjumani District Local Government.
In his maiden address to Parliament, Leku pledged to continue with development projects initiated by his predecessor, particularly infrastructure projects linking the region to neighbouring districts and South Sudan.
He highlighted the proposed bridge across the River Nile connecting Adjumani and Moyo districts and the road linking Yumbe, Obongi and Adjumani to South Sudan.
“These include the bridge at River Nile crossing to Moyo district and South Sudan, as well as the road from Yumbe district crossing via Obongi and Adjumani districts to South Sudan,” Leku said.
Oboth commended Leku for delivering his maiden speech on the same day he took the parliamentary oath, describing it as a first for the 12th Parliament.
“Today you came with an agenda and you know what you want for your people,” Oboth said.
State Minister for Transport Julius Muganda assured the new MP that Government had secured funds for construction of the proposed River Nile bridge.
Muganda said the project had reached the stage of signing a construction contract and appealed to Leku to work with local communities to address any challenges that could affect the contractor’s work.
“We are now at the stage of signing a contract to have the bridge constructed. We need your support because we shall engage the community to see how we can resolve issues on the ground, so that the contractor does their work conveniently,” Muganda said.
Leku succeeds the late Gen. Moses Ali, who died in July 2026. Ali represented East Moyo County in Parliament from 1994 to 2016 and subsequently held several ministerial positions, including Minister for Relief, Disaster Preparedness and Refugees, Minister for Internal Affairs, and Minister of Tourism, Trade and Industry.