A section of Members of Parliament have described the late Cyrus Amodoi Imalingat as a calm, young and focused legislator always passionate about the well-being of the people he represented.
The Toroma County Member of Parliament was among ten people who perished in a motor accident at Kitigoma in Buikwe District along Kampala-Jinja Road on Tuesday night on his way to Katakwi for a belated Women’s day celebration.
Hon. Jacob Oboth, West Budama South MP described the late Amodoi as a calm legislator relating his death while in a taxi to this personality.
He added that the people of Teso and Uganda have lost a promising legislator who was very articulate on matters of security and passionate about the settlement of Karamojong to end the conflict between them and the Iteso.
Toroma County in Katakwi district borders Napak district in Karamoja and has for decades suffered at the hands of the Karimojong cattle rustlers. At one point in the late 1990s, almost the entire population of Toroma lived in displaced people's camps.
Nakifuma County MP Robert Kafeero Ssekitoleko said the late Amodoi was a young, energetic and patriotic MP who thought many would benefit from his service as a legislator.
Aruu South MP Odonga Otto recounted when the late Amodoi chose him as his lawyer during the Ninth parliament. He described him as a person who could not trust anyone and always lived in fear.
In 2013, the late Amodoi was arrested for allegedly attempting to vandalise the Awere bridge located at the border between Gulu and Pader districts in northern Uganda. The MP was accused of attempting to steal mercury from under the bridge.
Former Kaberamaido Woman MP Florence Ibi Ekwau also said the late Amodoi was one of the legislators who always spoke his mind describing him as a nationalist.
In his communication to the House yesterday, the deputy Speaker of Parliament Jacob Oulanyah said Amodoi's body may lie in state on Friday for legislators to pay tribute to him.
Amodoi retired from the army at the rank of Lieutenant in 2009 having joined in 2005. He went on to contest for the Toroma county MP seat in 2011, when the area was curved off Usuk County.
He has been a member of the Human Rights and the Defence and Internal Affairs Committees in parliament. He also served as a research coordinator in Magoro Sub-County from 1998 to 1999. Amodoi sat his Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) in 1994 at King of Kings Senior Secondary School in Iganga district.
He sat his Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) exams in 1999 at Central Academy in Mengo - Kisenyi. He holds a Certificate in Computer Application and a Bachelor of Education from Makerere University.
He trained as an army cadet from 2006 to 2007 from Uganda Military Academy, Jinja and later trained in Counter Terrorism in the US in 2009 where he was awarded a diploma.