[2] In 1876 Romolo Gessi, exploring Lake Albert in the service of General Gordon, named the Ragem area "Wadelai" after its chieftain, a vassal of Kabarega, king of Bunyoro.
[2] The chieftain's personal name was Fishwa[4] or Pico;[5] "Wadelai" ("Wat-el-Lai",[4] Wo' Lei,[6] or Walad Lāy[7]) was a patronymic ("son of Lai") bestowed by the Sudanese.
Ewart Grogan passed through in 1899, and wrote, "A tiny lake, scarce five miles wide, smothered with weed, two insignificant hills, over one of which the Union Jack flutters on a crooked pole, some gravitation-defying huts, a sad-eyed Englishman, such is Wadelai".
[11] Grogan lamented that the Royal Artillery officer manning the station had to spend his time "sorting mails and retailing beads and yards of cloth", keeping him from "the really important work of inspecting the country and winning the confidence of the natives".
[14] Theodore Roosevelt described the native settlement in 1910: "thatched huts surrounded by a fence .. small fields of mealies and beans, cultivated by the women, and a few cattle and goats; ... big wicker-work fish-traps".
[21] Archaeological surveys were made of the remains of "Fort Emin Pasha" in 1935 by A. J. Rusk and in 1963 by Merrick Posnansky and the Brathay Exploration Group.
The modern settlement of Wadelai is several kilometres from the west bank of the Nile at 2°43′27″N 31°23′33″E / 2.72417°N 31.39250°E / 2.72417; 31.39250[27], where the road from Ajai Wildlife Reserve to Pakwach crosses the Ora River.
[29] In the 2021 Ugandan Presidential election, the Electoral Commission of Uganda recorded that 4,670 (62%) of 7,488 of voters registered in the sub-county cast ballots, 3,424 (73%) of them for incumbent and winner Yoweri Museveni.