Tororo split: Who stands to benefit?

Mar 20, 2005

THE photo said it all. And the headline of the story captured the photo’s graphic rendering very well: ‘Man eats rat for district’. That was <i>The New Vision </i>of March 4.<br>

Asumani Bisiika

THE photo said it all. And the headline of the story captured the photo’s graphic rendering very well: ‘Man eats rat for district’. That was The New Vision of March 4.

The President was stunned that a man was so passionate about the creation of a new district that he would eat a rat. But the man who ate the rat in front of President Museveni wanted to prove that not all natives of Tororo district are Jopadhola. There are three major tribes in Tororo namely the Jopadhola, Banyole and Iteso. There are also other minor communities such as the Bakenyi, the Nandi and the Bagisu.

Now the Banyole and the Iteso are agitating for the division of Tororo into three districts. A resolution to divide Tororo into three districts was adopted by the district council. However, the resolution has been deemed null and void because the minutes under which it was passed have never been confirmed.

Tororo County MP, Geoffrey Ekanya, with Jopadhola and Iteso mixed parentage, says the diversity of the communities in the district is causing stagnation in the administrative functions.

“When a Munyole or an Iteso civil servant makes a mistake, it becomes difficult for a Japadhola supervisor to reprimand him or her because the reprimand would be viewed as a Japadhola harassing a Munyole, etc.

So, the solution to such problem lies in the division of the district into three units with cultural homogeneity,” says Ekanya.
But is the division of Tororo into three districts viable? Tororo resident district commissioner, Dauda Kasibante, says the economy and the administrative infrastructure in the district are not sufficient to effectively support three districts.

“I would say in terms of economic capacity and general administrative infrastructures, it is not viable to create more districts in Tororo. Having said that, however, I recognise the existence of a passionate demand for the creation of new districts. I think the challenge we face as leaders is to reconcile the passionate feelings of those agitating for the districts with realities on the ground,” Kasibante said.

Most of the people The New Vision talked to in Tororo town accept there is need to elevate Bunyole county to a district status. There is, however, opposition to the elevation of Tororo county. “In the demand for Bunyole district, one can see a case for bringing services nearer to the people. But for Tororo county, the demand is based on tribal and political calculations of a few people,” says Nuwa Owora, the district chairman.

However, it seems the most contentious issue in the elevation of Tororo county to district level is the question of where the metropolitan Tororo municipality would fall. Tororo municipality lies astride the border of West Budama and Tororo counties. Kasibante says if Tororo Municipality was left out of the Iteso’s bargain for a district, the Jopadhola would, most likely, change their attitude.

Daniel Othieno, a resident of Tororo’s Bazar Street, wonders how a new district would take the headquarters of the mother district. “If the Iteso want a district, they should leave Tororo Municipality out of their demand,” says Othieno.

But the Iteso will not hear of a district without Tororo municipality as their district headquarters. “We are not talking of curving a district from Tororo district. We are talking about dividing Tororo district into three districts: Tororo, Budama and Bunyole. These counties were demarcated in 1947.

So, the issue of where Tororo municipality lies does not arise because it is in Tororo county,” says former Deputy Premier, Paul Etyang. Etyang argues that the Iteso are not demanding a tribal district, but an administrative unit that would address the civic, social and cultural needs of all the people in Tororo County.

However, a close observation reveals the demand to split Tororo is based on tribal sentiments and political calculations. The need to create of Bunyole arises out of Dorothy Hyuha’s interest in contesting against MP Emmanuel Dombo in Bunyole County. So, the creation a district would mean at least two parliamentary seats: the district women seat and the county seat, thereby foiling the potential contest between Hyuha and Dombo.

The same goes with Tororo county. A new Tororo district would create space for Paul Etyang who told this writer that he can’t rule out his possibility to stand in the 2006 elections.

The excitement for the creation of more districts countrywide is caused by the inopportune political calculations on the part of the Government.

Local leaders are now trading their support for the Government’s political positions in exchange for the creation of new districts.

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