Acholi urged to elect focused leaders

By Arnest Tumwesige

AMURU - Brigadier Charles Otema Awany has challenged the Acholi to elect leaders who will guide them towards getting rid of poverty at household level.

Brigadier Awany said electing leaders who are self-seekers can never tell locals to work hard by embracing government programmes like Prosperity For All.

Awany noted that instead such leaders are demobilizing the masses by discouraging them to receive seedlings government is distributing claiming that they are not germinating.

Brigadier Awany said if people could embrace farming as directed by the president through operation wealth creation, the dependency and begging syndrome would be no more in the region.

He made the remarks on Saturday in Amuru district at Lamogi Sub County headquarters during the inaugural function of former legislator Michael Ocula into the NRM party after his defection from FDC early this year.

Ocula, who was delighted for the official welcome into the party, said by the time FDC came into existence, it had no agenda apart from seeing the president out of which has affected its relevancy.

Describing himself as a seasonal politician, the former Kilak county legislator also acknowledged that development cannot be achieved with divisions along party lines.

“I decided to join NRM for the good of my people; in opposition we were telling people the politics of sectarianism and divisions which can’t help to build the people,” Ocula explained.

He added that unlike in NRM where youth have thinking mind of writing project proposals and how to embrace development, in opposition this shifts to walk to work campaigns.

He asked fellow party members who fail to go through the primaries, to rally behind the flag bearer rather than vying as independents to divide the support.

However during the function some district leaders expressed disappointment over the ongoing divisions in the administrative structure following the last byelections.

Christopher Ojera, the chairman local council three Pabbo sub county, said the party members are divided along individuals and the failure to entertain all party members in their capacities.

“NRM is there to groom people and be peace lovers; the divisions in the district structure are irrelevant and illogical,” Ojera explained.

Nokrach William, the Member of Parliament for persons with disability in northern Uganda also alluded to the leadership challenge as a factor facing the party.

Jane Okili Amongin, the NRM flag bearer who lost the last byelection, said blowing out the challenges within the party system will not help but rather have approach means to end them.

Amongin noted that it’s absurd that internally there is high level of sectarianism based on tribes and yet it’s what NRM is fighting against.