Govt should revisit Tororo district division
I wish to react to Paul Etyang’s article in the local media on June 18 entitled “On creation of two districts in Tororo district.â€
Disani Obbo
I wish to react to Paul Etyang’s article in the local media on June 18 entitled “On creation of two districts in Tororo district.â€
Etyang was reacting to an article by William Oketcho which talked about the Jopadhola owning Tororo municipality since its establishment on May 23, 1923.
When Tororo was established, there was an original tribe, the Jopadhola, who had fought Banyole and sent them westwards?
However, when Etyang says in 1947, Tororo municipality was in Tororo County, it defeats logic because Tororo county is independent of the municipality. Tororo County has its own sub-counties which are, Kwapa, Osukuru, Mella, Merikit, Mollo and Mukuju. So Etyang’s argument that Tororo county and the municipality were one place does not hold water.
There are some Jophadola living in Busoga and Buganda. For example Kakoba is the MP of Buikwe and Oketcho an MP in Bugiri, but the Jopadhola have never claimed any part of Busoga or Buganda to be part of Budama land, so let the Iteso in Tororo settle down like the Samia and Jopadhola in Bugiri. The Samia have never claimed Bugiri to be their territory despite having lived there for years.
By statistics, the Jophadola are over 300,000 whereas the Iteso are 132,000 in Tororo. It is, therefore, ridiculous to argue that the Iteso were the founders of Tororo.
The Jopadhola elders’ forum is watching the way the Government ministers are behaving. Our assumption is that cabinet cannot dwell on the topic of districts for five years without a resolution, but the impression created so far is that Tororo is going to be divided. The Bagwere in Pallisa had a similar problem, but because they complained the Government gave them Budaka district.
The Government and its cabinet are the custodians of the law and are responsible for the procedure of awarding districts, therefore, the Jophadola are appealing to them to revisit the decision to divide Tororo, or else we shall start mass protests.
The writer is an elder in Mifumi parish, West Budama
I wish to react to Paul Etyang’s article in the local media on June 18 entitled “On creation of two districts in Tororo district.â€
Etyang was reacting to an article by William Oketcho which talked about the Jopadhola owning Tororo municipality since its establishment on May 23, 1923.
When Tororo was established, there was an original tribe, the Jopadhola, who had fought Banyole and sent them westwards?
However, when Etyang says in 1947, Tororo municipality was in Tororo County, it defeats logic because Tororo county is independent of the municipality. Tororo County has its own sub-counties which are, Kwapa, Osukuru, Mella, Merikit, Mollo and Mukuju. So Etyang’s argument that Tororo county and the municipality were one place does not hold water.
There are some Jophadola living in Busoga and Buganda. For example Kakoba is the MP of Buikwe and Oketcho an MP in Bugiri, but the Jopadhola have never claimed any part of Busoga or Buganda to be part of Budama land, so let the Iteso in Tororo settle down like the Samia and Jopadhola in Bugiri. The Samia have never claimed Bugiri to be their territory despite having lived there for years.
By statistics, the Jophadola are over 300,000 whereas the Iteso are 132,000 in Tororo. It is, therefore, ridiculous to argue that the Iteso were the founders of Tororo.
The Jopadhola elders’ forum is watching the way the Government ministers are behaving. Our assumption is that cabinet cannot dwell on the topic of districts for five years without a resolution, but the impression created so far is that Tororo is going to be divided. The Bagwere in Pallisa had a similar problem, but because they complained the Government gave them Budaka district.
The Government and its cabinet are the custodians of the law and are responsible for the procedure of awarding districts, therefore, the Jophadola are appealing to them to revisit the decision to divide Tororo, or else we shall start mass protests.
The writer is an elder in Mifumi parish, West Budama