TORORO: LCIII ATTACK ON CAO: Signs of Surging Desperation Among Iteso Over Unresolved Tororo County Boundary
By Markson Omagor
NATIONAL/OPINION
From eating live rats to slapping Chief Administrative Officers, Iteso in Tororo County are finding themselves using desperate methods to remind the political leadership that the unresolved issue of Tororo County boundary is a volcano waiting to erupt.
On 25th August 2023, the LCIII Chairman of Morukatipe Sub-County, Gerald Omaset Obbo was arrested for slapping the district CAO, Gabriel Atama for refusing to transfer away a Sub County Chief who is a Japadhola.
In fact time and again, the chairman has been saying it is a taboo for a non-Itesot to serve in his Sub County, something the district administration couldn’t allow, according to one official.
Like Francis Imbuga said in his Political Play entitled Betrayal in the City that “when the madness of an entire nation disturbs a solitary mind, it is not enough to say the man is mad” it becomes hard for one not to empathize with the Omaset considering this frustration.
Whereas Omaset’s move appears to be segregative and tribalistic, it is important to read into the prevailing circumstances.
The people of Tororo County who are largely Iteso have for long demanded a separate district with Tororo Municipality being part of it claiming there is unfair distribution of resources with the bigger chunk going to West Budama.
Even the representation in the Local Council 5 is skewed favoring West Budama that has more councilors. Consequently, political decisions taken at the council are not favorable to Tororo County.
“The issue of West Budama taking a lion’s share of resources is not news anymore. You know, where resources are scarce, there’s a tendency for people to use their advantages to scoop more resources and this is what is happening in Tororo. West Budama is taking advantage of numbers to get more resources to the disadvantage of Tororo County,” MP Fredrick Angura of Tororo County South told this reporter in a telephone interview on Monday, 28th August 2023.
Angura echoed the Iteso concerns that the only way to cure these disparities is by granting Tororo County a district status so it can access resources directly from the center like all other districts.
This agitation saw the political rise of Sanjay Tana, a Ugandan of Indian descent whom the Iteso particularly saw as a neutral factor able to balance both the interests of Badama and Iteso. Sanjay became Tororo Municipality MP in 2006 and held the position for two terms. Now with the Municipality seat also in the hands of a Japadhola, Hon. Yeri Apollo Ofwono, the Iteso feel more orphaned.
This desperation has been heightened by President Museveni’s failure and or delay to implement a declaration he made while addressing NRM MPs at Kyankwanzi 10 day retreat early June 2023. When asked by the Tororo South MP, Fredrick Angura about the Tororo County boundary, Museveni without mincing words said the colonial map showed that Tororo Municipality falls within Tororo County. And he promised to travel to Tororo to follow up on the issue at an appropriate time.
The much awaited visit seemed to have been programmed for 25th August 2023, but to the disappointment of the Iteso community, the Tororo Presidential visit was called off at the 11th hour allegedly because the President was having a family engagement in Ntungamo the following day, 26th August 2023. The Iteso are now asking whether the President tactfully dodged this visit to frustrate their efforts or because of rising tensions.
The Iteso desperation was also evidenced in the last NRM Party Primaries where the district ended up having two parallel offices managed by two tribal groups; one for the people of Tororo county, majority of them with Teso lineage and another for the people of West Budama, who are mainly Japadhola.
Similarly in 2020, Tororo County NRM supporters resolved not to take part in the party primaries for Woman MP and LCV until they are granted district status as promised by the President.
The NRM supporters in greater Tororo county (Iteso) together with their area MPs Fred Angura and Annet Nyakecho resolved and decided that they were not going to take part in the NRM primaries for the 2 positions of Woman MP and LCV not till they are given the district status as promised by the President. The 2 seats brought them together with their counterparts the Japadhola.
The NRM supporters in Tororo County also warned the NRM leaders against displaying the registers for LCV and Woman MP in Tororo County. They also warned their counterparts from West Budama not to set foot and carry out campaigns in Tororo County for the same positions.
Like Francis Imbuga said in his Political Play entitled Betrayal in the City that “when the madness of an entire nation disturbs a solitary mind, it is not enough to say the man is mad” it becomes hard for one not to empathize with the Omaset considering this frustration.
